I want to suggest an awesome book to you guys - The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie and Ellen Forney (illustrator). Previous Americorps*VISTA Cara gave it to me before she left, and I read almost all of it last night after work! I just learned that this book really is "absolutely true," and based on poet/short-story writer/and first-time young adult writer Shermen Alexie's life - read his bio here.
Alexie writes as Junior, a witty, Native American budding cartoonist who lives on the Spokane Indian reservation and gets bullied for being a "retard." Junior was born with too much spinal fluid in his brain which caused him to suffer all sorts of physical problems, but he's incredibly smart, hopeful, and knows he needs to go beyond his poor reservation if he wants to live up to his potential. Junior transfers to an all-white school miles away from his reservation, and has to deal with racism, resentment from the Native American community, and allllllllll that other crazy stuff you have to deal with in high school. I absolutely love this book so far - it's beautiful throughout, sad at times, and there are laugh-out-loud cartoons (like, seriously, I LOL'd in the middle of a coffee shop last night) every few pages which makes me feel like I'm getting a peek at the extra-secret thoughts of this incredible character. Here is a great book review from The New York Times. We have copies at the library! Check it out.
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