The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

APA Bibliography: Alexie, S. (2007). The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York, NY: Hachette Book Group.

Readability Lexile: 600L

Book Information: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/693208.The_Absolutely_True_Diary_of_a_Part_Time_Indian.

Genre: Realistic Fiction, Engages Middle School, Diverse Protagonist

Author Information: http://fallsapart.com

Summary: Junior is from a poor Indian family living on the Spokane reservation. He has a lot of health problems and only one best friend. Junior was having a tough time on the reservation because everyone picked on him. He had dreams to be bigger and hated that the books were so old that his mother used the same book. With encouragement from Mr. P and his grandma, Junior decided to change schools to the nearby school, Reardan. His dad would drive him to school and pick him up when they had gas money, but if they didn't then he would have to walk 22 miles home or hitchhike. Everyone but his family started calling him a traitor for going to a white school. Junior found friends in people he didn't think would be his friends. He started playing basketball on the varsity team. He went up against his best friend at the school's basketball game and won. This book is about love, tragedy, friendship, family, and humor.

Target Audience: I would recommend this book for children ages 13 and older. There are some curse words in the book that I wouldn't recommend for anyone younger than that. This book has some scenes which would be inappropriate for anyone younger than 13. There are concepts such as bullying, maturity, and other concepts that would be understood by older children.

Evaluation: I think this a book that all middle schoolers or high schoolers should read. It is an absolutely amazing book. It talks about all the problems that children face who are from different cultures and poverty.

Reader Response Activity: Junior loves to draw comics and this book has comics throughout the book. Since this would be a book read in middle school, for an activity you can have your students make a comic. You can put whatever requirements you would like. Students will have fun with this because it can be as open-ended as they would like.