Dear Parents, Why _The Absolutely True Story of a Part Time Indian_ Is Important to Our Classrooms

Dear parents,

Thank you for taking an interest in your child’s education. I understand that you have reservations about Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. I would like to speak with you about the merits of this novel. I believe it has an important role to play in classrooms. The novel has caught the attention of our students, and as I’m sure you know, books hardly ever compare with the digital playground students have access to. This novel will draw students in. It spurs curiosity to explore important issues that your child will encounter including identity, drinking, loss, and bullying. If you will allow me, I want to show you the worth of this work.

Students are under an insurmountable amount of pressures. First and foremost students are pressured to discover who they are. While our classrooms have become very welcoming over the years, there is still an overwhelming cliquish atmosphere for students to navigate. We want our students to be fluid in their friend circles. We don’t want students to put themselves into positions where they are singled out and forced into one friendship group. The protagonist in this novel, Junior, does a wonderful job of showing students how diverse and nontraditional relationships can be. Students should not be tied down by conformities. Sherman Alexie wrote, “I realized that, sure, I was a Spokane Indian. I belonged to that tribe. But I also belonged to the tribe of American immigrants. And to the tribe of basketball players. And to the tribe of bookworms.  And the tribe of cartoonist” (216). Junior understands that in order to find genuine happiness and comfort in ourselves, we have to be ready to be members of different groups. We cannot allow our students to continue to segregate themselves exclusively into categories like race, economic status, or popularity. Junior is the adolescent with a moral compass that every parent wants his or her child to have. He sets an example as the person who can transition between the barriers that students struggle with.

Sherman Alexie explores how students will deal with drinking and loss. It’s no secret that adolescents are drawn to the forbidden. Children are not allowed to drink alcohol, but it isn’t a challenge for them to acquire it. Instead of barring children from serious topics such as drinking, which they will encounter whether we want them to or not, we should be up front with them. These issues need to be discussed in a human and serious manner. A character named Eugene is shot over a sip of alcohol. As unlikely and ridiculous as this seems, these are dangerous problems our students could run into. They need to understand that binging or beginning a lifestyle that overindulges will set them up for failure. We do not want our students ending up dead in a parking lot because they were arguing while intoxicated. Furthermore, someone close to our students will probably get hurt at some point in their lifetime from an alcohol complication.

After Eugene dies Alexie writes about the impact a death can have:

My father went on a legendary drinking binge.

My mother went to church every single day.

It was all booze and God, booze and God, booze and God. We’d lost my grandmother and Eugene.

How much loss were we supposed to endure?

I felt helpless and stupid.

I needed books.

I wanted books.

And I drew and drew and drew cartoons.

I was mad at God; I was mad at Jesus. They were mocking me, so I mocked them (Alexie 178)

We are setting up students up for failure if we do not prepare them for traumas. This novel can help students come up with coping mechanisms to survive. We cannot simply sweep these serious conversations under the carpet, and they need exposure to them outside the home.

Students will find bullying in school. Students need to be able to stand up for themselves. There is a scene in when Junior punches a character named Roger so hard that that the bully’s “nose bled like red fireworks” (Alexie 65). Students need to know that they should defend themselves. This isn’t a calling for fists whenever someone feels mistreated, but it is a reality for students. Furthermore, Junior makes up with Roger about half way through the novel. Alexie writes, “And Roger, being of kind heart and generous pocket, and a little bit racist, drove me home that night. And he drove me home plenty of other nights, too. If you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty damn amazing” (129). Junior’s ability to reconcile with someone who had made fun of him is heartwarming. It is inspiring. It is the sort of behavior we should be instilling in studens. He has the ability to forgive and see past the negatives in people. How many adults could do this? This novel is full of moments that make you wonder if you are as good as Junior.

            Please take all of this into consideration. Your child deserves the best education. The books I have selected will help them learn and become a kinder person, which is what everyone wants. Your child will be strong hearted and powerfully educated. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Alex Severson

Work Cited

Alexie, Sherman, and Ellen Forney. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. London: Andersen, 2008. Print.