One of the Top Ten Banned or Challenged Book in the US.
Full Disclosure: I have never read this book before. For this review, I read the first tenth’ anniversary edition.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a seriously awarded literary work. Here are a few: National Book Award, Boston Globe – Horn Book Award, LA Times Book Award, Most Notable Book from the New York Times Book Review, and also was a New York Times Bestseller.
At the point of posting this article, it was rated 4.6 out of 5 stars on Amazon, 4.1 out of 5 on Goodreads, and out of Google Users 81% liked this book.
Summary: A fictional coming of age diary of an indigenous young adult, Junior, as he faces obstacles throughout his high school experience.
This book shows how difficult it is to be an indigenous person on a reservation. Many faces poverty, unemployment, alcoholism, and drug abuse. Junior has a complicated medical condition from birth, which made his life difficult. After a moment of intense emotion (will discuss later), his teacher advised Junior to go to school off of the reservation so that he has a chance for a better life. He does just this, and many in his community shun him because they view this as a betrayal.
Here are the common reasons why True Diary is challenged or banned:
-Obscene words, racial slurs, and profanity. One instance of the “N” word and one instance of calling someone a “r*tard.” There are only 6 instances of words that are not allowed on cable TV (2 for f*ck, 4 for sh*t).
-Drug and alcohol use of adult and teenager characters. The book does not glamourize either thing or on numerous occasions identifies how destructive they can be.
-Violence and crimes. In the beginning of the book, Junior slams a book in a teacher’s face, which gets him in serious trouble. But that teacher understands why he did so, and he was the one to encourage him to go to school of the “rez.” Junior also gets bullied a number of times, and at times instigates the fight. There is a reference to Junior’s best friend, Rowdy, being physically abused by his father.
-Sexual Content: There are not any sex scenes in this book. But there are references to masturbation and hormonal teenage boy episodes. For example, an attractive guidance counselor hugged him because his sister passed, this caused him to have an erection.
BLUF (bottom line up front): This book is pretty mild in comparison to many others. With the exception of a few of the curse and obscene words, this book could easily be shown on cable TV with a PG13 rating.
Personally? I think this is a fantastic book, because it shows a different life than the reader. This book is an excellent example of how books could teach young readers empathy. So, I highly recommend this book to everyone.
Here is a reference to where this book was challenged, reviewed, retained after review, and banned: Banned Books 2022 – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian – Marshall Libraries
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian – The Objective Reader
The Banned Book Reviewer 
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