Book Review: “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie

When I was a kid, I read every book I could get my hands on. I couldn’t wait to get to the end of the story. I didn’t find out until I was in college that there was more to a book than the story it told. I knew the March sisters, but did not realize they were showing me the limits of opportunity for young women during the Civil War era. I loved the

“Little House” series but didn’t understand that I was being given a history lesson about the settlement of the Midwest. And although I cried for Ralph Moody in “Little Britches”, I did not realize I was being given a lesson in what it took to be a successful pioneer.

And now comes Sherman Alexie with his story of a “Part Time Indian”. What in the world might that be about? We know what it means to be a parttime employee and there are other situations that are part-time. Perhaps a person has to be a parttime English speaker. Maybe shared custody would qualify as a parttime situation, being a part-time kid.

And this is closer to Alexie’s usage. This book is the story of Alexie’s own growing up and his learning to function in a world that is part Indian and part not. As he grows older, he has to make choices about how he will live in these two worlds. Read how he makes these choices with courage and humor. Appropriate for middle school and above.