The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Alexie, S. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. NY: Little Brown.

Junior lives on a reservation with his family. Life on the rez is wrought with poverty and alcoholism. One day in class, he notices that he has the same textbook that his mother had several years ago.  He decides that in order to get a better education, he must attend school off the reservation. It is quite a sacrifice for his family to get him to school, but they agree to send him.  In his new surroundings, Junior realizes the differences in the lives of the white people and his people. He struggles at first, but then makes friends and begins flourishing.  The differences in the races stood out to me the most in this book. The Indians on the rez are all poor, having to scrimp for the simple things such as food.  Several times, Junior and his family went without food.   Poverty and race are a big theme is this story. Although Junior is proud of his race, he sees how he must leave the reservation in order to make a better life for himself and escape the cycle of poverty and early death in his reservation.