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

Title: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Author: Sherman Alexie
Date Finished: Jan 27, 2009 #5
Published: 2007 Pages: 230
Rating: 3.75/5

I can't remember the first time that I read a review for this book, but it had been on my wishlist for quite a while. Everytime I went to the used bookstore, I searched and searched, but I finally broke down and purchased a shiny new copy. I don't know what I expected from this book, but overall it was a really enjoyable read.

Absolutely True Diary is the story of Junior (or Arnold) who is in many ways a normal fourteen year-old kid. Except he is Spokane and lives on a reservation. His family is poor, his father is an alcoholic, his sister a recluse who hides in the basement, and Junior himself was born with hydrocephalus--or as he describes it, his brain is drowning in grease. It seems that all the odds are against Junior. Especially when he decides to go against his family's wishes and travel 25 miles each way to the "white" school outside of the reservation.

This diary, then, is Junior's story of trying to fit into a world where in many ways he is completely different from everyone else. But in the end, Junior is just a regular kid who has a crush on the beautiful Penelope, loves to play basketball, and dreams of one day becoming someone. Junior's writing is funny yet sarcastic and his diary is enhanced by really great cartoons.

While I didn't love this book as much as I had hoped, I find the reading greatly entertaining. If there was a sequel, I'd certainly pick it up. Junior, despite the fact that there are so many things going against him, gives hope that we can look past our skin colors and differences to come together. And if you're wondering--while this is YA fiction and one bookseller tried to tell me it is 7th or 8th grade, I'd recommend this one for older teens. I don't think I'll be passing this one on to my 13 yo brother just yet...

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Yes, I finished this book a week ago. I think this is the longest I've gone after finishing a book and posting my thoughts. So, what have I been doing with my time? I've been reading The Woman in White, and while it is slow going, I'm loving the book. In addition, I've been doing non-book type things. My sister is having her first baby in 3 weeks, and I'm making baby Emma a quilt. The pinwheel design is maybe a little ambitious for my second quilt, but I'm loving trying to figure everything out. I've got quilting on the brain and hope to make Scott a new quilt to replace his cat-hair infested fleece Texas Tech blanket I made him a few years ago (the other quilt I made was a queen size Texas A&M-pattern quilt).




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In addition to everything else that I'm behind in, I was tagged by Rebecca and Melody for this little meme. My apologies, ladies, for taking SO long to complete it:

6 Things That Make Me Happy

1. A Perfectly Sunny Day (warm makes me even happier!)

2. Hearing a song I love on the radio that I haven't heard in a while (even better when sunny outside)

3. Unexpected hugs and love from hubby

4. Finishing a book that makes me think for days after I've closed the cover

5. A really great cup of coffee (yes, I prefer my own)

6. A freshly made bed--I LOVE a freshly made bed...with no wrinkles

So, what makes YOU happy??

Indian Tales from Picuris Pueblo

Title: Indian Tales from Picuris Pueblo
Collected by John P. Harrington
Date Finished: April 13, 2008
Yearly Count: 20
Pages: 102

This volume, collected by John P. Harrington in the early 1900s, contains 21 folktales, 7 folkways, and several folksongs of the Picuris Pueblo Indians who live just outside of Taos, New Mexico. I didn't realize the location of the tribe when I picked up this book, but because my in-laws have a cabin in between Taos and Angel Fire, I was glad I picked this copy up to become more familiar with the native customs from the area.

The stories are all short and according to the text the audience is usually children, although the audience is not limited to children. The stories mostly all contain an example of why things are the way they are--why the people farm the land, why coyotes are so smart, how eagles got their colors, why there are no giants, how the people have the plants that they do. The stories themselves usually are focused on animals rather than humans and contain a lot of repitition. I enjoyed reading them as a whole, but if I could dig out my notes from my Folklore course my first year of grad school I could find more entertaining examples of American Indian folktales.

The folkways section is only about a quarter of the book (or less--about 10 pages!) and gives some of the birth, death, education, and hunting customs. I would have liked for this section to be larger and in more detail. All in all, I don't think that this book gave me any further insight into the customs of these people--but perhaps some of this could be because Harrington, from what I got from the book, was more interested in recording the language rather than the actual stories.

What folktale/folklore books or collections do you like?