Could the title have been any longer for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian? I think it’s a little much. I also think the hype for this book is a little much.
It’s a good book. I enjoyed it. But it has gotten a lot of press and a lot of really great reviews from YA critics. I’m very glad the Cybil judges didn’t make it the YA winner, Wednesday Wars was better (though Off Season was not.)
Anyway – it’s about a kid on an Indian reservation who is smart, really smart. A teacher advises him to get off the Rez – now. So he does – by going to the white school in town. This leads to any number of problems, but also a lot of good things. Maybe it gets so many rave reviews because we don’t see a lot of books about teen Indians on reservations? Whatever. It was good but not great. Read it but don’t buy it. And if your kids are assigned the book and don’t fall in love with it, don’t be surprised by that.