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

Here is the book on Amazon.

I really enjoyed this book. Not only was it entertaining, it was thought provoking, too. It dealt with issues of socioeconomic equality, grief, loss, family and heritage without focusing too much on a moral or being overly dramatic. This book was also fun to read. The chapters are fairly short and the whole book is set up like a journal or a scrapbook. There are illustrations that appear to be taped to the pages throughout, ranging from small doodles to full-page pictures and comics.

I feel like I could definitely teach this book. I think would need to introduce this book to my class and remind them to be mature and respectful, due to the use of slang, issues of race and mentions of sexuality, but that standard will hopefully be set in my classroom to begin with. This book proved to be entertaining for me to read, and hopefully it would have the same effect on my students. It could be used to teach a wide variety of concepts and skills.

I think I could use it to teach about voice in writing, for the main character has a very animated voice that makes the story unique. Students could work with this text as they learn to develop characters in fiction writing. I also think this book could be used when teaching non-fiction writing and biographical pieces.

This books deals with a wide variety of "issues" that always seem to be taught with more classic texts. In the story, race is a huge focal point, and because the book is easy to read and comes from an adolescent viewpoint, I think students could really learn a lot about discrimination. This book also explores grief and shows different reactions and viewpoints on death and loss.

This book is written from a male viewpoint, but I feel like it would apply to a wide audience, both male and female. It's a fairly quick read and can definitely serve as a base for discussion and further exploration.