The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian
by Sherman Alexie
Alexie, S. (2007). The Absolutely true diary of a part time Indian.
New York: Little, Brown, and Company.
For 14 year old Arnold Spirit, aka Junior, life on the Spokane Indian Reservation has been difficult from the start. Not only is his life complicated from alcoholic parents and living in poverty, but he suffers from numerous physical deformities and the effects of brain damage from when he was a baby. Due to these things, Junior is the target of bullying from the other children on the reservation and the butt of many jokes. His only escapes are drawing and time with his best friend, Rowdy. Frustrated with the hamster wheel that is his life, Junior wants more than the circumstances life has given him and sets his mind on reaching for more. He convinces his parents to let him start attending school outside of the reservation at the nearby non-Native high school, Reardan High, in the hopes that the trajectory of his life will improve. At first, life at RHS is not without its own set of challenges. Junior is an outsider as the only student there from the reservation, so he becomes the target of racist jokes and being labeled “that Indian kid”. Back home on the reservation, the other children ostracize Junior further due to him being at a “white” school, and Rody isolates himself from Junior. However, over time, Junior becomes a part of the in-crowd at RHS, befriending the jocks after discovering he is talented at basketball and making the varsity basketball team. He even finds love and makes a new best friend along the way. Follow along Junior’s journey to self-acceptance and belonging as he acclimates to his new normal in this moving book.
Middle and high school students alike will identify with many of Junior’s struggles, like his desire to fit in and find friendship. Some of the more serious issues tackled, like bullying and a dysfunctional family, will resonate with students who have had similar life experiences. The author does an excellent job at balancing the seriousness of the storyline through humor and visual elements. Still, the overall content of the book is quite mature and may not be appropriate for all students. With references to alcoholism, foul language, abuse, death, and more, it’s no surprise this book continually ends up on banned book lists or being challenged. But, life is not always sunshine and roses for students, and it’s important to have a well-rounded collection where all students can find themselves reflected in a story. Readers will enjoy following Junior’s journey as he musters up the strength to conquer his doubts, fear, and pain and overcome.
Other selections by Sherman Alexie:
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Speak
by Laurie Halse Anderson
Anderson, L. H. (1999). Speak. New York: Farrar Straus Giraux
Freshman year is uniquely challenging for the average high schooler, but for Melinda Sordino it is set to be one of the hardest years of her life. She begins the year as a complete outcast, ostracized by her peers for calling the police to break up a party she attended at the end of summer. What her classmates don’t know is that an upperclassman, Andy Evans, raped her at that very party. Andy continues to taunt and lord his power over Melinda through various encounters at school, which only amplifies her fear and pain. Rejected and alone, Melinda is forced to deal with the trauma and pain on her own. She retreats further and further into her proverbial shell until she stops speaking altogether. Her only solace from the prison cell she finds herself in is a janitor’s closet where she hides away at school and her art class. When Melinda finally begins the healing process, she has another traumatic encounter with Andy. However, Melinda finds the strength to fight back this time and finds her voice again.
It should come as no surprise that with rape being a cornerstone of Melinda’s story, this book deals with some pretty heavy, mature content and is frequently challenged/banned. However, that should not frighten you away from reading it or keepin it in your library collection. Melinda’s story is powerful and great for discussing tough issues like rape, bullying, and the social dynamics of high school. It would be great to incorporate in the classroom as a resource for teaching social-emotional learning. Readers will empathize with Melinda’s internal conflict and emotional trauma. Speak could be a powerful read for students who have dealt with similar situations in their own lives. Beyond SEL, Anderson’s writing in Speak is rich with figurative language and could be used to teach point of view. It’s a great mentor text and could be used to demonstrate how to write small moments as well.
Other Selections by Lauri Halse Anderson:
Wintergirls
Shout
Twisted
Prom
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Lily and Dunkin
by Donna Gephart
Gephart, D. (2016). Lily and Duncan. New York. Delacorte Press.
Perhaps the most universal aspect of being a teenager is feeling like you don’t fit in with the world around you. For Lily (Tim) and Dunkin (Norbert), their lives are no exception. This dual-voiced book follows Lily, a transgender girl, and Dunkin, a boy who lives with bipolar disorder. Both characters feel like they are misfits and don’t fit in but are trying to be normal in their own right. They instantly connect with one another and find solace in their unique friendship. Both separately within their own individual circles and together as friends, the duo navigate the many obstacles and ups-and-downs of family and school issues during their eighth grade year, overcoming the adversities set before them and embracing who they are meant to be.
Lily and Dunkin is a beautifully-written story that centers around a blossoming friendship while simultaneously tackling some pretty heavy topics including transgender identity, bullying, abuse, homosexuality, bipolar disorder, grief, suicide, and more. The author does this with grace, as the book is based on her real life experience of having a son with bipolar disorder. Because of this, the characterization is top notch, and you walk away feeling as if the characters are real people. While the issues it tackles are more mature, it fits well with its targeted audience, as middle school is an age where most students are questioning who they are and discovering their own identities. It is a wonderful addition to any collection to show students going through similar experiences that they are not alone. The book is great for teaching empathy for individuals whose experiences are different from our own. It would be great for teaching point of view, text connection, perspective, and voice.
Other selections by Gephart:
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Annie on My Mind
by Nancy Garden
Garden, N. (1982). Annie on my mind. New York. Farrar, Straus, Giroux.
Seventeen year old Liza dreams of attending MIT and becoming an architect one day. Her love for architecture comes from her fascination with the buildings in New York City. She spends her free time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look for inspiration and be surrounded by the sites which she loves so much. One fateful day while visiting The Met, Liza meets Annie for the first time. The two instantly connect and become fast friends despite being from vastly different backgrounds. Their infatuation with one another builds until eventually their friendship turns into something more. Even though people in Liza’s life do not understand or support this, she pursues her romantic relationship with Annie anyway. Eventually, the conflict with their family and friends surrounding their relationship places them in unfortunate circumstances that leads to them going their separate ways.
We can all recall the feeling of our first real crush; the one that sets our heart aflutter and fills our mind with infatuation. The beauty of Annie on My Mind is that it highlights the teenage crush so perfectly that any reader can identify with Liza’s feelings and her experience with her first love. The author writes from a place of personal experience, as she is a lesbian herself. It is a wonderful addition to make sure the LGBTQIA students on your campus find themselves represented in a book. The story is ripe with figurative language. The dialogue between characters moves the story along quite well. This would be a great mentor text for analysis of character relationships.
Other selections by Nancy Garden:
Click here to view the book trailer.
Monster
by Walter Dean Myers
Myers, W. D. (1999). Monster. New York. Harper Collins.
Monster is a tale of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sixteen year old Steve Harmon stands accused of being the lookout for a premeditated murder of a store owner and is being tried for murder. He is looking at 25 year to life in prison for a crime he did not commit. The story, told as if it’s Steve’s journal, follows him throughout the entire process of his experience with a broken justice system from being indicted to both sides presenting their evidence in the case during the trial. In his journal, Steve meticulously documents his experience as if it were the script for a movie. Ultimately, Steve is acquitted, but the book shines a poignant light on the faults of our justice system.
Monster addresses various relevant topics to our society right now, including racism and a broken justice system. The format of the book makes it more dynamic and impactful. It allows the reader to glance inside the mind of someone who has to face these issues in the real world and how the experience affects them. It’s an excellent mentor text to teach voice and perspective and elicits great discussion points surrounding racial profiling, flaws of the court system, and peer pressure.
Other selections by Walter Dean Myers:
Sunrise Over Fallujah
Bad Boy: A Memoir
Shooter
Lockdown
The Glory Field
Click here to view the book trailer.
The Knife of Never Letting Go
by Patrick Ness
Ness, P. (2014). The knife of never letting go. Somerville, MA:
Candlewick Press.
Todd is the only boy left in the New World colony of Perentisstown. There are no females here, and everyone else is a grown man. When the settlers arrived in this New World, they were greeted by and infected with the Noise germ, which allows them to hear the thoughts of humans and animals alike. For some unknown reason, the men in town are eagerly counting down to Todd’s upcoming birthday, and he senses that all is not as it seems. When the opportunity to escape presents itself, Todd seizes it and runs away with his dog, Menchee, and a few important items. Along the way, he encounters something he thought no longer existed--a girl! Viola is “silent” to Todd, and with her, he discovers that everything he thought he knew about his life may not be what it seems.
This dystopian/science fiction novel is a unique story with an intriguing story line. The plot starts out slowly at first but builds as the story goes on until it’s hard to put down. Todd’s gritty narration of leaving his childhood behind and becoming a man makes the story gripping and intense for the reader. Overall, the author focuses more on characterization than the plot, so this selection would be a great mentor text for teaching that concept.
Books by Patrick Ness:
The New World
More than This
A Monster Call
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Persepolis
by Marjane Sartrapi
Sartrapi, M. (2003). Persepolis. New York. Pantheon.
Persepolis is a graphic novel memoir of the author’s experience living in a conflict-ridden Iran during the Islamic Revolution from the age of six to fourteen. Her home is a land filled with persecutions, hardship, tragedy, and peril. The harsh conditions in Iran would make living a normal life for anyone difficult, but especially for a child. Marjane’s father does not want to flee Iran due to his pride and social standing, so she must grow up living through a tumultuous time in her homeland’s history. As time goes by, Marjane starts adopting more and more of Western culture and questioning the authority figures in her life, which leads to her getting punished at school. When things become too dangerous, Marjane’s parents send her away to Austria for her safety and so she can be in a place where she is allowed to be herself.
This powerful book paints a picture of what life is like for someone whose very experience of childhood and growing up is deeply entwined with historical events. The narrative is beautifully done and the graphic novel format only enhances the story and impact of its content. It makes the tough content more approachable for the average reader. Since it is filled with information about Iranian culture, this book would be great for a cross-curricular lesson with Social Studies or Geography. It teaches characterization, mood, and tone well.
Other selections by Marjane Sartrapi:
Click here to view the book trailer.
Gabi, A Girl in Pieces
by Isabel Quintero
Quintero, I. (2014). Gabi, a girl in pieces. El Paso, TX: Cinco Punto Press.
Seventeen year old Mexican-American Gabi lives in a world full of chaos and exceptionally difficult things. Her family is dysfunctional with many issues. Gabi is overweight, a fact which her overbearing, strict mother never lets her forget. Because of this, Gabi struggles with self-esteem and food issues. Her dad is a meth addict and struggles with substance abuse. Her brother cannot keep his act together. The pressure can sometimes be too much, so Gabi expresses herself through private letters and poetry in her journal to help deal with the difficulty around her. Her only other escape is time with her best friends, Cindy and Sebastian. Cindy finds out she is pregnant during the story, and Sebastian comes out as gay. Gabi must learn to navigate this and other issues somehow all while trying to find her own unique identity.
This novel tackles many serious issues and turns a microscope on how Hispanic culture might affect a young girl growing up under its pressures and expectations. The author’s unique use of humor makes the content easier to digest. It’s great for teaching voice in writing, as Gabi’s characterization and voice shine through the pages. It would also be a great mentor text for teaching poetry. The modern form of the story will interest readers, and Hispanic students will find themselves represented in its contents.
Other selections by Isabel Quintero:
Click here to view the book trailer.
