By Sherman Alexie

Published 2007

Word Count: 44,275

AR level: 4.0

AR points: 6.9

I suggest 7th through 12th grade.

This book came as a recommendation to me through two young women in the Native American Studies class that I took in this long journey to my Ph.D.

I was stunned by it. I’d never read anything by Sherman Alexie before. The book was funny, heart-wrenching, and at times, shocking. Only a Native American could write such an honest piece with any authenticity, and I am forever grateful for the recommendation from my fellow students because of what I learned. I’d suggest late middle-school through high-school, based on the content.

Here’s a description from the publisher:

Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author’s own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character’s art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.