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

Title: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Author: Sherman Alexie
Publisher: Little Brown Children’s Books (2007)

What’s it about?
Arnold Spirit aka Junior is a Spokane Indian living on the reservation in northern Washington. Like everyone on the reservation, his life is colored by poverty and alcoholism. His father is an alcoholic. His best friend, Rowdy is troubled and may have been born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. They are so poor that they have to shoot the family dog because they can’t afford to take it to the vet. On top of everything else, Junior is sickly and dorky, born with brain damage, and tormented by bullies. At school, he lashes out in frustration at his life and his teacher convinces him he has to transfer to a school off the reservation to better his life. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian chronicles Junior’s freshman year at this new school where he struggles to fit in while also trying to find a way to maintain his relationships on the reservation.

Why should I read it?
If you have ever felt like you didn’t belong, read this book. Sherman Alexie paints a compelling, humorous and in-your-face honest portrait of a young man between two worlds. His prose is straightforward and true. Junior’s diary is illustrated with hilarious pencil drawings that compliment the story perfectly. This is a beautifully done, often heartbreaking, coming of age story. It deals with difficult issues of race, class and addiction and will be best suited for more mature tweens. However, for those who enjoyed but have outgrown, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, this novel may offer the perfect reading ladder into more sophisticated young adult novels.

Recommended for: Ages 12-14

Awards: 2007 National Book Award

Also try: American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, Monster by Walter Dean Meyers; and The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Related Media:

Smoke Signals (movie, 1998). An independent movie based on Sherman Alexie’s writings. It is rated pg-13 and like Absolutely True Diary  is appropriate only for more mature tweens.

Tags: bullying, native American, realistic fiction

Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt

Title: Across Five Aprils
Author: Irene Hunt
Publisher: Follett (1964)

What’s It About?
Across Five Aprils follows an Illinois farm boy, Jethro Creighton, the youngest of four brothers, through his experience of the American Civil War. Too young to go to war himself, he is left with the responsibility to help his father on the farm when two of his brothers and a cousin join the Union Army, and another joins the Confederate Army. The fact that one of his brothers is considered a traitor exposes the family to all kinds of hardship, and contributes to the death of Jethro’s father, turning the boy’s world upside down. But this is only the first of many devastating losses and hardships.

Jethro is left to hold his world together and attempt to nurture the wounded and save the lost. As the war rages on, taking a toll on everyone in different ways, Jethro grows up in a world shattered by harsh and often unwilling sacrifice, but one which is also full of unexpected opportunities.   

Why Should You Read It?
Jethro’s story is not your conventional war story, it highlights the struggle on the home front, not the battle field. Though many of the pressures and challenges he faces are unique to the historical period the book explores, in many ways his quiet bravery is inspirational to anyone trying to grow up. Historically, the book touches all the issues that made the time so momentous without over simplifying them, and Jethro’s correspondence with Abraham Lincoln brings the long view of human events into focus. 

Recommended for: Ages 9-12

Awards: 1965 Newbery Honor Book

Also Try: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott; Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain; The Giver by Lois Lowry

Nonfiction Tie-in: Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James Swanson

Related Media:
The Smithsonian’s Price of Freedom: Americans at War site has a really well-done, interactive Civil War section

Faces of the Civil War from the Library of Congress’s historic photograph collections

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Title: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Author: Mark Twain
Publisher: Multiple, in the public domain (1885)

What’s It About?
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the story of a poor boy and an escaped slave who set off down the Mississippi River in a raft to escape abuse and injustice at home, and follows their adventures as their friendship deepens.

Widely regarded as a classic of American Literature, it remains controversial for the racist language used to refer to the slave Jim, and Native Americans, language that accurately reflects the prejudices and injustices of the period. These controversies notwithstanding, the book remains a masterpiece of satire as tool for exploring hypocrisy and ethical quandaries.  

Why Should You Read It?
The book is still very, very funny, with unforgettable rogues, fools, and innocents. It is also a stirring adventure that captures the imagination of anyone who has ever yearned to set out into the big wide world.  Of course, it is also a story of the Mississippi, perhaps the greatest work ever written about a river that has shaped our history. It is invaluable as a document of American culture in the mid-nineteenth century in the American South, exploring slavery, feuding clans, and charlatanry both religious and commercial.

But perhaps most importantly, it is a work that champions clear thinking and moral courage, and everyone needs to read about that.

Recommended For:  Ages 11+

Series Information:  It is a companion piece to Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but stands alone.

Also Try: Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain; Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis; and Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Nonfiction Tie-In: The Trouble Begins at 8: A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild West by Sid Fleischman

Links:

 Huck Finn Homepage

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn at Project Gutenberg

Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce

Title: Alanna: The First Adventure
Author: Tamora Pierce
Publisher: Atheneum (1983)

What’s it about?
Ten-year-old Alanna of Trebond and her twin brother, Thom have been sent away by their father to continue their educations. Alanna is to go to a convent and Thom to the King’s castle to learn to be a knight. Neither is very keen on their father’s plan so they take matters into their own hands. They forge new letters of introduction from their father so that,  Alanna, disguised as a boy, can take Thom’s place at the castle as "Alan," and Thom can go to the monastery to study to be a mage. The novel follows Alanna’s adventures as she trains to be a knight, struggling to keep her gender a secret.   

Why should you read it?
This novel has all the best parts of fantasy: swords, magic, battles between the forces of good and evil, and a handsome prince. Best of all, the one wielding the sword and doing the fighting is a girl. She isn’t a damsel-in-distress or the prince’s love interest; she’s his page and she’s on a mission to protect him. Alanna is a spirited, likeable character and sets an empowering example for young tween girls. While the series will probably be most appealing to girls, there’s enough action to hold boys’ interests as well. Although, about midway through the novel, Alanna gets her period. Pierce handles it well, but I’m not sure how boy readers would respond.

Recommended for: Ages 10-14

Series Information: Alanna: The First Adventure is the first of four books in the Song of the Lioness series.

Also try: In the Hand of the Goddess (Song of the Lioness, Book 2) by Tamora Pierce; Ash, by Malinda Lo; and Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

Link: Tamora Pierce’s website

 

The Amazing Life of Birds by Gary Paulsen

Title: The Amazing Life of Birds: A Twenty-Day Puberty Journal
Author: Gary Paulsen
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books (2006)

What’s It About?
Subtitled “A Twenty-Day Puberty Journal,” The Amazing Life of Birds takes readers into the mind of Duane Homer Leech, a twelve year old boy whose voice is changing, whose skin is erupting with zits, and whose dreams are suddenly both vivid and perplexing. The main change in Duane, though, is how he sees and interacts with girls. He now see their body parts everywhere (he censors himself by writing “ELBOWS” wherever an offensive anatomical reference might occur.)

Though it would be easy for Duane to become frightened or depressed by the confusing changes taking place in his mind and body, friendship and his Grandmother’s wisdom guide him through. It also helps that Duane has a dynamite sense of humor.

Why Should You Read It?
Boys will be reassured that their agony is not unusual, and Duane really does have a wonderful set of coping mechanisms to deal with the thorniest parts of puberty. Duane’s excruciating goofiness and awkwardness, around girls in particular, is hysterical, and his ability to make fun of himself is a good example for boys whose first instinct is to be mortified rather than see the lighter side of their predicament. This is definitely a book for boys, but tween girls should be encouraged to check it out for the all-access pass they are given into the pubescent male mind. 

Recommended for: Ages 9-13