"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

I found this book to be a great read for anyone who inspires to better their lot in life.  I would highly recommend this book as part of a literature selection for adolescent readers.  This book addressed some serious issues but included moments of humor to relieve the serious mood.

Like the other book for this week, "April Raintree", the book dealt with the prevalent occurance of alcoholism among native Indians and the negative consequences that result in alcohol use.  Both novels relate death to the use of alcohol.  In "April Raintree" it was the suicide of the mother and Cheryl.  In Alexie's book it was the death of Junior's uncle and grandmother.  Junior's uncle died as the result of a fight over the last swig in a whiskey bottle while Junior's grandmother died as the result of a drunk driver.  Both books had main characters who spoke about the impact alcohol had on their life.

Another common element in both books was the fact that both April and Junior were half Indian.  April chose to keep this fact a secret from most of her friends.  Junior was not able to hide his heritage as his skin was not fair like April's.  However, like her, Junior altered the way he acted when among white people from the way he acted around his own people. 

Since Junior loved to draw cartoons, it seemed fitting that the book would also include cartoons.  Often these pictures helped to lighten the mood of the book and further helped to clarify some of the emotions Junior was going through.

One of the things that made me connect with the book was my childhood.  I grew up with a father that preferred to spend his time at the bars rather than with his family so I could relate to how alcohol can negatively impact a family.  In addition, I have also experience what it is like to be "different" and be taunted for that.  When I was in third grade I suffered from polio.  As a result, for an entire school year I could not participate in phy ed classes and was not to do anything physical during lunch or recess time.  So my lunch and recess time was spent sitting on the back steps of the school yard where kids would sometimes throw rocks at me and constantly call me names.  So when the kids were picking on Junior because of his physical ailments, I could definitely relate to that.  Unfortunately I still see kids being picked on today because of their differences and as a result I think many kids could relate at least on some level with the lead character in this novel and like me cheer him on as he goes on to make a better future for himself.