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

"'You can do it,' Coach said.
'I can do it.'
'You can do it.'
'I can do it.'
Do you understand how amazing it is to hear that from an adult? Do you know how amazing it is to hear from anybody? It's one of the simplest sentences in the world, just four words, but they're the four hugest words in the world when they're put together.
You can do it.
I can do it.
Let's do it'" (Alexie 189).

This quote is the most important thing I took away from this book. Of course, every child, every human needs encouragement, and I think teachers need to be one of the main sources of encouragement to students. We are their cheerleaders alongside parents. If a teacher doesn't believe in a student, what does that tell the student?

The book as a whole was okay. I am not a fan of the stream of consciousness type of writing, especially with a teenage boy. There were some topics discussed that I simply didn't need to read about. I also am not a fan of cartoons and comics, and it made the read feel childish to me, but I think that's what makes the book unique, so I can appreciate it nonetheless.

I think the book shines a light on Native American culture and the realities that lie within it. Unfortunately, alcoholism is a big part of the culture now. When alcohol is connected with Native Americans, it's often seen as racist. The thing to remember about racism is that there is usually some truth to it.

I also didn't realize the amount of poverty and loathing of white people that many Natives have. There is reason, but I think now it's time to move on. Yes, our history sucks, but we can't change it now. I think the U.S. needs to make more of a stride to make ammends in a way that everyone is pleased, and we can lay this issue to rest for good.

In terms of teaching this text, I don't know that I would teach it. It certainly holds value when it comes to tensions between Natives and white people still do this day, but I wouldn't teach it because I'm not comfortable with the masturbation talk, and I don't know how interested all students would be. I would certainly recommend this book to any 6th-8th-grade boy who needs suggestions on what to read. I believe they would find more joy in it because of the cartoons and because they can relate to Junior's stream of consciousness. I would especially recommend it if I were teaching in the Spokane area because students can identify with the places talked about in the book, which is exciting for most.