This review is to celebrate banned book week with Sheila at Book Journey and everyone else that just says no to allowing other people decide what we can and can't read!
Go check out the rest of the banned book readers too!
Author Sherman Alexie says that on his tombstone it will read:
"He was inappropriate."
Whereas I would etch on his tombstone:
"Brave. Honest. Unafraid."
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian tells the story of Arnold Spirit, a 14 year old boy from "the rez". It tells about a boy who was not afraid to leave the rez in search of a better life.
When asked one piece of advice he would give a young person who wants to break free from the life that's been set out for them and find their own way he said:
"You have to get comfortable with the idea of being lonely. For all of human history, we've always run away from being lonely and now there are even more distractions. But that's the thing--if you're going to make the decision to rebel against your tribe, you're going to get very lonely."
The title reflects this idea nicely. Arnold Spirit felt like it was his job to be an Indian when he was at the white high school although he would be quick to tell you it was a part-time job that didn't pay very well! When he was on the rez, he was made to feel like he wished to be white (because he had left the rez for school and no one else was doing that then).
A great story right? So why is it banned?
This book touches on subjects such as alcoholism, poverty, masturbation, fighting and death.
Sherman says:
"I certainly respect any parent's right to determine what their child is reading. They don't get to determine it for a whole school or community...."
Me too. That's what I say, too.
He goes on to say:
"I was the only Democrat in my high school. I went to high school with a bunch of extremely conservative Republican Christians.... and let me tell you-- those conservative Christian kids and I were exactly alike. I was publicly inappropriate, they were privately inappropriate. All this stuff that is controversial is stuff that kids are dealing with on a daily basis."
I feel like in this season of my life I am a "14 Year Old Boy Specialist". I just graduated one from the upheaval that is 14 and I just earned me another one. The age of 14 is a tough one for a boy. At my house, they are hungry all the time, their bodies hurt from growing, they are trying to formulate their own opinions that are not necessarily those of their parents, they are hormonally obnoxious at times and there is this tiny piece of sweet little boy that lurks just below the surface. In short, they are still the rough and tumble preschool boy in a gigantic body that could take an innocent mother out with one misplaced elbow to the head.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie captures all of this perfectly. It is a book that will serve to make any 14 year old boy a whole lot less lonely and questioning.
14 year old boys love to laugh and this book will allow them that. Of course, it will also cause them to reach deep inside for all that compassion they were taught as youngsters that may just be hibernating right now!
I do believe I will give each of my boys a copy of this book for Christmas this year.
And if you're still reading, leave me a comment about a book that you read when you were 14 (or at another time in your life) that changed the way you thought about things. Through a random electronic drawing, one of you will be sent a $20.00 gift certificate from Amazon. Leave your e-mail address in the comment. The drawing will be held and the winner announced on Saturday, October 6.
Great review! I haven't read this one yet, but it sounds like I need to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, an important book I read when I was 14-ish...I'll go with The Diary of Anne Frank. I read it several times, and I think it humanized the past for me a bit. You can study wars and famines in history class all you want, but an account like that gives you a whole different perspective.
Oh, and my email is thewellreadredhead at gmail dot com!
ReplyDeleteThis is great Belle - I so loved this book when I read it a couple years ago for banned book week.
ReplyDeleteThe book I am thinking of I can not remember the title of - but it was about a mom writing a diary to her daughter who she is pregnant with (if I am remembering this right) Each part of the book is letters to this unborn child and then in the end I think (again, if I remember right), something happens and she loses the baby.
At my age, it was a powerful read and I even wrote the author about how much it touched me... but again... I can not remember the details but I guess I was about 14 years old.
journey through books@gmail.com
This book sounds amazing. I haven't read it, but I definitely will now. Great review Belle!
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of books I have read that have changed my life- but one that I read when I was around 14 is The Prince of Tides. I learned what great writing was, and what it was like to be completely swept away by a story. It also made me want to move down south, something I still want to do. quixoticmagpie@gmail.com
I so want to read this book, it sounds brilliant. When I was 14 there were two books which changed the way I thought about life, both of which are ironically consistently on the banned and challenged list. The first is Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, because for some reason I was convinced that Holden and I were exactly alike :-/ The second (which is probably also the book which has had the most effect on my life) is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Every time I read it it makes me think about justice and fairness and what it means to treat people right, and the kind of world I'd like to live in. Atticus Finch is my hero.
ReplyDeletethetangledwebweweave@gmail.com
I have heard this title mentioned a few times, but never actually knew what it was about or read it.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to say there was one book that affected me, it would have to be Speak. That's actually the book that I re-read for Banned Books Week. I had a rough few pre-teen years, and the first years of being a teenager. And it greatly affected me because it was like a light went off: somebody *does* understand. Those are the most incredible kinds of books.
thebookienook@gmail.com
I would have to say The Diary of Anne Frank.
ReplyDeletemamabunny13 at gmail dot com
So many posts on this book. I'll have to find a copy since so many people love it. I'm trying to think of what I read when I was 14. Hmm...I think I read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest around that age and really loved it. It really pushed me into enjoying good literature.
ReplyDeleteklmickelsen at gmail dot com
I haven't read this book yet, but now I know that I should! I'll get one soon, thanks to your review! =) Hmm.. When I was fourteen, I read The Virgin Suicides and it made me realize that every person is a unique individual. We may think we know someone a lot, but when we mull about it more, we would realize how much a stranger a close friend might seem.
ReplyDeleteFollowing you now. mjalcozar@gmail.com
i read a book called 'freckled at 14' at that age...don't remember to the story, but i thought it was cool that i was 14 (w/ a few freckles) at that time.
ReplyDeletekarenk
kmkuka at yahoo dot com
I can't stand that I haven't read this yet! I neeeed to! :) Fab review Belle! Jhartling74@aol.com
ReplyDeleteI recently posted about Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret and how much it meant to me when I read it as a young girl. The Diary of Anne Frank was another book that blew my mind around the same age.
I read The Diary of Anne Frank. My mother gave me this book and I treasure is greatly. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteSo many wonderful novels that affected me. One was To Kill a Mockingbird. The characters and the emotions were memorable. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteI don't remember what I read when I was 14! But, I have a vague idea of some books I read around that time. I'm going to say Christy. It is the story of a young woman who sets out alone to work teaching in the Appalachian region. That's a bold young lady.
ReplyDeleteI think the book that changed my life as I knew it was Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. It was such a great story, and pulled me into Steinbeck's writing, which I couldn't get enough. He knows how to round morality in his books, and get you to question your own. He shapes characters in a way that makes you wonder about yourself, what you believe in and if you need to make a change. He is forever indented in my bookish heart and I will always be a fan and recommend his books.
ReplyDeletefreda.mans[at]gmail.com
To this day I remember reading Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl. It made a lasting impression and something that I will never forget.
ReplyDeleteKendal
Kinx's Book Nook
kinxsbooknook@gmail.com
I've never read Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, but it's been on my TBR list for quite a while. Need to remedy that! Hard to remember (ha) back around 14, but that's probably near 9th grade and that was the year I read To Kill A Mockingbird and got a taste of what type of prejudice exists.
ReplyDeleteJHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com
The Awakening. It's banned. But that book changed my life.
ReplyDeleteJesse
jesse.kimmelfreeman@gmail.com
I would have to say TO kill a mockingbird.
ReplyDeleteamandarwest atgmaildotcom
Great review Belle! I've been wanting to read this one for a while now. I especially like the author's quote about being comfortable with being alone - that's great advice for everyone, not just high school students.
ReplyDeleteAt 14 I was mostly reading assigned books at school. I loved the words that Shakespeare made up though. It made me see that language is fluid.
ReplyDeletemarypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
At 14 I was reading book we had to for school, but I've always liked reading. I loved the classics the most and they definitely defined how I see things. Thank you for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteverusbognar (at) gmail (dot) com
True Diary of a Part-time Indian...I love the title. I hadn't heard of the book before, but I don't have any YA readers in my life at the moment. I'll have to check it out. I do read YA Scifi all the time.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what I was reading at 14, other than stuff assigned for school and a lot of Earle Stanley Gardner and Andre Norton. That may have been about the time I discovered Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series. It's still one of my favorites and I've re-read most of the books several times. If they weren't banned, I'm sure it was because the over-protective parents didn't discover them. She dealt honestly with homosexuality, multiple partners, and even group sex at a time when most people wouldn't even mention such things.
True Diary of a Part-time Indian...I love the title. I hadn't heard of the book before, but I don't have any YA readers in my life at the moment. I'll have to check it out. I do read YA Scifi all the time.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what I was reading at 14, other than stuff assigned for school and a lot of Earle Stanley Gardner and Andre Norton. That may have been about the time I discovered Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series. It's still one of my favorites and I've re-read most of the books several times. If they weren't banned, I'm sure it was because the over-protective parents didn't discover them. She dealt honestly with homosexuality, multiple partners, and even group sex at a time when most people wouldn't even mention such things.
It was probably to Kill A Mockingbird. I read it because I wanted to and not because it was a school assignment.
ReplyDeleteI read To Kill A Mockingbird when I was a sophomore in high school, and was blown away. Growing up in a small town, I related to some of the content, but a lot of it was so new to me. I remember the book affecting me in not only the way I treated other people, but in the way that I SAW other people. Such an amazing book!
ReplyDeleteThanks for such an amazing giveaway!
songbird1613 at yahoo dot com
I haven't read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian but it sounds amazing and I've heard so much great things about it. At 14 I remember reading The Glass Menagerie for school and being very affected by the characters of the book and invested by the story. It was a setting I probably didn't fully grasp at the time but I remember the themes made me step back and take a look at the people in my life.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the giveaway!
visabellad(at)gmail.com
I haven't read this yet. Thanks for sharing your Banned Book review
ReplyDeleteShelleyrae @ Book'd Out
This sounds like a great book to read for both adults and teens!
ReplyDeleteHmmm. Cannot remember the exact age, but Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 had a really big impact upon me around that age. It is also a very banned book!
Sounds like my home, with growing boys etc. My [almost] 14 yo gives me daily updates about where his growing pains are. :) I agree with your opinion on this book exactly. I thought it was very honest - funny yet serious - and well worth reading.
ReplyDeleteI think Harry Potter changed a lot about how I thought about books. And I know that sounds lame but there are some valuable lessons in those books. Another book I think that had an impact on me was To Kill A Mockingbird because it was one of those few books I read when I was a kid that didn't exactly have a happy ending.
ReplyDeletesupremedonutz @ aol