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

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Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 2007. Print. ISBN: 978-0-316-01368-0. Hardcover, $16.99 USD. 

Awards/Honors:

-2007 National Book Award for Young People's Literature
-2008 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Fiction and Poetry
-2009 Odyssey Award as the year's "best audiobook for children or young adults", read by Alexie (Frederick, MD: Recorded Books, LLC, 2008, ISBN 1-4361-2490-5).
-2010 California Young Reader Medal, Young Adult Book (eligible to win once during its first four years)
-"Best Books of 2007", School Library Journal
-2008 "Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults", Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)
-"2009 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults", YALSA

Annotation:

Junior wants to be Arnold. Arnold wants to respected and understood. Being respected and understood is hard work. 

Booktalk:

The absolute truth is exactly what 14-year-old Arnold Spirit, known as Junior, is going to give you. He let’s you know the truth about everything, the truth about racism, about alcoholism, about drugs, and mainly about himself, a teenager with a rough life. Have you ever wanted to get up and leave your normal routine behind? Junior is sick of being picked on; he was born with multiple problems and not looking like the “typical” kid is a problem in itself! On the Spokane Indian Reservation, Junior is the kid that does not fit in. He decides to attend school outside of the reservation and this is where he becomes Arnold, the only Indian in an all white school with a jump shot worth bragging about. Splitting his life in to two is yet another challenge that Junior faces, but it’s nothing that he can’t handle.

Sherman Alexie speaks about his book:

Teacher Tube booktalk

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