The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian By: Sherman Alexie

Overview:  Junior has always been a bit of an outcast on his reservation.  He's small, weedy and was born with fluid in his brain which causes him to have seizures and a lisp in later life.  Things are about to get a lot harder for Junior when he decides to leave his reservation to go to an all white school in the hopes of finally escaping the poverty that has trailed his family for generations.  This is a fantastic book and one of my personal favorites.  I have read it over and over, it is very touching and funny at the same time.  This is a good read for any teen.

Review:  Possible SPOILERS

Let me start out by saying I absolutely adore this book.  I laughed, I cried and everything in between.  The book starts off with Junior starting at his new school and in the process losing his best and only friend Rowdy.  Seeing Rowdy and Juniors relationship change and suffer was one of the best and saddest parts of the book.  I really felt for Junior and felt like I knew him.  Watching him try to fit in at his new school full of very unaccepting middle class white people was really interesting and beautifully written.

Junior dreams of being a cartoonist and his drawings litter the pages of the book.  This added a whole new layer to the story and I found it really cool.  Junior has lots of insights to the lives of his fellow indians many of which are downright depressing.  However the book is written so well with humor hidden among the tragedy that you'll never want to put it down.