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A Book Review by Fernando Pérez García (Av2 Tues, 2009-10) - About 200 words

The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian (2007) by Sherman Alexie

The book tells the story of an Indian teenager, Arnold Spirit, born and raised on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington. A tragic childhood and teenage, marked by some physical impediments, turn Arnold, better known by the nickname of Junior, into the target of bullying. Later on, the extreme poverty of his family and their Indian community will lead him to look for a more hopeful future out of the "rez." From then on, Junior will have to face the rejection of his whole tribe, especially Rowdy's, his best and only friend on the rez. He will also have to deal with the violent deaths of people really close to him because of the problem of alcoholism among Native Americans.

Sherman Alexie, with this shining novel of overcoming and self-improvement, moves us from drama to humor, from the tragic to the comical, as if we were in a roller coaster, so quickly and brilliantly that he grips the reader's attention from the first line. Our admiration and tender feelings towards the main character, Junior, grow so strongly that you cannot stop reading the novel.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian is a definite must-read. I would highly recommend it to everyone, no matter how old he/she is.