The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian

I’ll start by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. It was funny, it was well written, it was unique, it was unexpected. The main character was extraordinary, relatable, funny, and talented. I loved the view of the world through the incredibly clear-sighted eyes of 14 year old Junior, and the unique story he tells. He’s multi cultural in a way that’s not often seen; many multicultural stories take the average or “normal” and alter one aspect. For example, middle class white kid that’s gay, African American kid who’s middle class, Chinese American that’s middle class, white American kid who’s low income, etc. Junior isn’t limited to one “multicultural” aspect, and so presents a more believable and holistic view. He’s Native American, low income, and has physical and learning disabilities. He’s the outsider in more than one way. He’s a 3D character. This duality makes him easier to relate to, I think. In our multicultural society, many students feel that they’re straddling two worlds, trying to make them coexist.

In regards to the Reese article, I appreciate that Alexie is in fact not only a Native American but also a Spokane specifically. He’s speaking from an insider’s perspective. As I said with the multiplicity of the multiculturalism- contrasting and juxtaposing the Native American and the white cultures on and off the “rez”- Alexie manages to escape the “oversimplification” of stereotyping. No one group of people is either vilified or “heroified,” but each displays both positives and negatives of the aspect of culture that they represent. Also, no one character is forced to represent the culture as a whole. As Junior says, “it was a lot of pressure to put on a kid. I was carrying the burden of my race, you know? I was going to get a bad back from it.” By trying to make any one character in any one situation the representative of their entire people group, you oversimplify and stereotype them. For example, though both Rowdy and Junior are poor Native American boys, they respond very differently to their circumstances and make very different choices. They show the variability and difference among the Spokane people, avoiding the stereotyping pitfall. I think Native Americans, being such a small and historically victimized minority, struggle especially with identity and therefore with combating stereotyping.

The issue of racial names, addressed in the Price article, was confusing to me. Personally, I try not to attach too much meaning into the words that people use. Both of my grandmothers are Southern ladies born of Southern ladies tracing all the way back to before the American Revolution. My Mimi, who was of upper middle class Atlanta stock, often had African American “help” to keep her house clean while she was raising my father. My Nana spent much of her youth playing baseball in the dirt with African American sharecroppers’ children in south Georgia. Mimi often refers to “black” people in whispers. Nana will robustly tell you about the long conversation she had with “the nicest Negro man!” Though Nana uses terminology that wouldn’t be acceptable in today’s touchy society, I know that she’s far less racist than many people of my generation, certainly less racist than the majority of hers. Though I understand the vicious nature that some terminology takes on, and the effects of “name calling” like this, I also try to keep in mind the intention behind the terminology. I’m a big Braves fan, and this season I’ll keep doing the chop.

Geography and Order of the Poison Oak

As many people have already said, this week’s readings were definitely eye opening. I’ve always felt strongly that the best way to experience someone else’s struggles is to read good literature about their situation, and homosexuality is no exception. Since I’m a very heterosexual female, the plight of a homosexual high school boy was pretty far removed from me. I couldn’t possibly understand or empathize with the struggles of students struggling with their sexuality, but I feel pretty confident that I’ll face some amount of those struggles with the students in my classes and would like to be able to identify with them on some level. So I’m extremely glad that I was exposed to the Geography Club and Order of the Poison Oak, two books that I would never have picked up off of the shelf on my own. They gave two extremely sympathetic and personal accounts of homosexual adolescents that were relatable and interesting even to a heterosexual adult.

From the perspective of a teacher, these books were great. I went into them understanding that these are NOT class reads. They would be difficult (if not impossible) to stretch to include content, and I would definitely be extremely hesitant before making them lit circle books, but they’re great books to have on hand. These books felt like a lifeline flung out from an adult author who had experienced the hardships of sexual discrimination to a generation of struggling kids, and I would love to have them available and waiting for the kid that needs that lifeline to catch a hold of. They were easy to read, interesting, unintimidating, and relatable and would be a great fun read for students who are just perusing the classroom library for something to pick up.

From the controversy/censorship perspective, these books are well within a teacher’s rights to make available, I think. Though I believe that some students as young as ours (especially in the lower 4^th through 6^th grades) should be protected from information that they aren’t necessarily ready for, neither of these books broaches any topic, language, or action that these students haven’t been exposed to in the normal everyday life of a public-school kid. They’re also very up-front about their homosexual themes (it’s on the book jacket) so if students (or their parents) aren’t comfortable with these themes they’ll know to avoid them. There aren’t any really big surprises in these books, theme-wise. However, though these books get a definite “yes” from me, I am pretty conservative in my belief of what should be expressly taught in a public school classroom. I don’t believe that it’s a teacher’s place to tell students whether homosexuality is “right” or “wrong” or to help students figure out or come to terms with their own sexuality… that’s a parent’s place. However, it’s absolutely a teacher’s right and responsibility to protect all students from harassment, which may and probably does include awareness and understanding. Kids- and a frightening number of adults as well- hate and harass those things that are different than themselves, things they don’t understand. Making students understand others so that they aren’t so foreign and scary (be that people of other nationalities, languages, cultures, or sexualities) can prevent some of the hate that was displayed in the books from this week.

Octavian Nothing

I know this is one of your favorite books, Rhett, so I’m sorry to say this. I genuinely disliked this book. I found myself reading and rereading sentences over and over again trying to re-engage myself in the plot or understand better. I didn’t connect to any of the characters, I struggled with the language, and I was miserable throughout most of the reading. Now, that’s not to say that I didn’t gain something worthwhile out of the text. It raised some incredibly complex (and often very dark) issues and great discussion points and alternative views towards an often one-sided period in American history.

This being said, the issue of slavery during the revolution is explored in other young adult novels (for example, Laurie Halse Anderson’s Chains) in a way that’s more appropriate, applicable, and useful for middle grades. Octavian Nothing was difficult to get through for me, and as such I know it would be a trial by fire for many if not all middle grades readers. From a purely reading-level standpoint, I would place this book with the Book Thief… It’s just too difficult for virtually all middle grades readers. I can’t imagine a setting where I’d be able to use the novel in a classroom.

The exploration of the experimentation on Octavian and his mother could be a comparison piece with Nazi experimentation on Jews during the 1940s, but I still can’t see using the book as more than in part, with heavy scaffolding from a teacher. Much of the novel is in epistolary format, which was interesting but also seemed to prevent me from connecting with Octavian. I never felt like I understood or identified with him, as a character.

Though there would be ways I could integrate Octavian Nothing into my classroom if necessary, I would not choose it. I believe I could find more age-appropriate and manageable texts to meet all of the standards that Octavian would meet.