Module 1 LS5623: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Book cover image from Amazon.com
THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN
1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alexie, Sherman. 2009. THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN. Ill. By Ellen Forney. New York, NY: Little Brown Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9780316013697

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Junior was born with “too much grease in his skull”, he stutters, had seizures, had his ten extra teeth all pulled during the same dental visit, and he lives on an Indian reservation. Having a parents who drink too much, a sister who after living in the basement all the time ran away, and having his dog shot by his dad because they couldn’t afford to take him to the vet are just a few of the trials faced by this fourteen year old cartoonist who uses his art “to talk to the world” in hope that the world will pay attention to him.
Junior is given the chance to go to school twenty-two miles away from the reservation in a place where the only other Indian is the school’s mascot. As Junior tries to find his place in the world (half-way in the white world and half-way in Spokane Indian world) we are privy to the journey through his “diary”. Junior goes from low man on the totem pole on the reservation to finding his place as a scholar, basketball player, and leader at his new school. Along the way he loses his best friend, experiences the deaths of two family members, and finds love with a beauty named Penelope.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Sheman Alexie brings humor to this book in which the young protagonist must overcome his own prejudices about his life in order to move forward and become the person he is meant to be. By creating this novel from the first person view point of Junior, Alexie mastered the first characteristic of young adult novels…writing from the view point of young people. Since Junior had a close relationship with his grandmother and his alcoholic parents weren’t always around, characteristic two was achieved (I want the credit).
Characteristic five (body of work includes stories about characters from many different ethnic and cultural groups) was met by creating the character of Junior, a young Indian boy living on a Spokane Indian reservation but trying to go to school off of the reservation, with the “rich” kids. Junior fights against the prejudice shown to him by his own people “They call me an apple because they think I’m red on the outside and white on the inside” , and he becomes neither red nor white, but himself.


4. AWARDS/HONORS
2007 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature
School Library Journal Best Books of 2007
2008 American Indian Library Association American Indian Youth Literature Award
Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of 2007

5. REVIEW EXCERPTS
On the site, Teen Links, Elina from Auburn, AL, wrote, “But for a story about a disabled teen who has an alcoholic father and faces bullies, racism, and the deaths of several close relatives, this book made me laugh a lot… If your heart breaks as you read this book, chances are you're laughing, too. It really does read like an absolutely true diary: genuine, poignant, in-your-face, and oh-so-real. So, laugh, cry, and love this book as much as I did.”
From School Library Journal featured as a starred review: “Exploring Indian identity, both self and tribal, Alexie’s first young adult novel is a semiautobiographical chronicle of Arnold Spirit, aka Junior, a Spokane Indian from Wellpinit, WA. The bright 14-year-old was born with water on the brain, is regularly the target of bullies, and loves to draw…The teen’s determination to both improve himself and overcome poverty, despite the handicaps of birth, circumstances, and race, delivers a positive message in a low-key manner.”

Reference: Nilsen, Alleen P. and Kenneth L Donelson. 2009. LITERATURE FOR TODAY’S YOUNG ADULTS, 8th ed. (Boston, MA: Pearson).

Module 1 LS5623: Stuck in Neutral

Book cover image from Amazon.com
STUCK IN NEUTRAL
1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Trueman, Terry. 2000. STUCK IN NEUTRAL. New York, NY: HarperCollins Children’s Books. ISBN 006285192

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Shawn McDaniel is a fourteen year old boy who loves his mother, enjoys the taste of smoked oysters, and has never taken care of any of his own needs. Although Shawn has never spoken a word, he can remember every conversation he has ever heard, and he is able to read. Since he is unable to express himself, Shawn’s IQ measures out to be that of a three to four month old baby. The worst part of his cerebral palsy isn’t the seizures that often plague him nor his life of total dependence: it is the feeling Shawn has that his dad wants to kill him. “If my dad walked into this room right now and killed me, no one would know what I was really like.”(Trueman, 60)

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Terry Trueman writes this novel in the voice of Shawn, who can’t communicate with the outside world. Using Shawn’s voice is a powerful way to present this tough subject of possible euthanasia and the life of a person trapped within themselves. Although Shawn is physically imprisoned within his own body, his mind is free.
“Have you ever wondered if a definition of love might not include taking responsiblility for someone who can’t take responsibility for his or her self?” This is the question that Shawn’s father grapples with as he watches his son “suffer” or so he believes. It is obvious that there is a bit of man vs. man conflict here, but there is also man’s conflict within himself, as Shawn begins to accept the possibility of his own death at his father’s hands. When I began this book, I was incensed at the thought of a father taking his son’s life, but Trueman’s masterful development of each character, especially those of Shawn and his father, helped me not to cast Shawn’s father in such a bad light. The ending is one that has the reader revisiting the story, trying to decide what was the fate of Shawn. “But before either of us can speak again, I feel crackle-crackle-crackle. I can’t tell what’s going to happen next. My seizure begins to spin slowly through me. What will my dad do? Whatever it is, in another moment I’ll be flying free. Either way, whatever he does, I’ll be soaring.” Even more gripping are the author’s notes at the end that explain Mr. Trueman based the character Shawn after his own son. “While I invented Shawn’s world and make up all the things that happen, I also based what I wrote on being the parent of a kid like Shawn, my son Henry Sheehan Trueman.”


4. AWARDS/HONORS
2001Michael L. Printz Honor Book
2001 ALA Best Book for Young Adults
2001 ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
2000 ALA Booklist Top Ten Youth First Novels

5. REVIEW EXCERPTS
School Library Journal recommends this book for Gr 5-9. The review: “Shawn McDaniel has cerebral palsy. With no control of physical functions, he appears to the outside world, including his family, to be hopelessly retarded-a "vegetable." Because he narrates the story, readers know that he is, in fact, a near genius, completely aware of his surroundings, and able to remember everything he has ever heard…His struggle to be known, and ultimately loved, is vividly captured, and the issue of euthanasia is handled boldly but sensitively…This story is bound to spark much lively discussion.”

From Barnes and Noble’s customers’ reviews: “I JUST LOVE THIS BOOK, and definitely recommend this book to any age. I'm an eighth grader, and I just love to read. And this is one of my favorite books. As you read you become so excited that you want to read more. WOW GREAT BOOK.. SAD ENDING TOO.”

Module 1 LS5623: Seventeenth Summer

Book cover image from Simon and Schuster web site
SEVENTEENTH SUMMER
1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Daly, Maureen. 1968. SEVENTEENTH SUMMER. New York, NY: Pocket Books. ISBN 0671619314

2. PLOT SUMMARY
This book, considered to be one of the first young adult novels, tells the story of Angie Morrow, a seventeen year old girl who, after finishing high school, is spending the summer preparing to start college in the fall. At the beginning of the summer, she meets Jack Duluth, star basketball player, whose family owns a bakery. Through boat rides and cokes at the corner drugstore, Angie falls in love for the first time and chronicles the experience, knowing that “never again would there be anything quite as wonderful as that seventeenth summer!”

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This book is the stereotypical “shy girl meets popular boy from wrong side of tracks”. What makes this story of first love so appealing is the innocence of the time. This story happens in the 1940’s, and barely are there even kisses shared. It seems more like a young adult novel of today when smoking and drinking occur, but that was more acceptable during that time then a young lady making herself readily available to a boy, as Angie’s sister, Lorraine does.
While the story is written from Maureen’s view point, the age of the story makes it feel f as if the protagonist is older than seventeen, even though Daly was in high school and college when she wrote this novel
. The copy I checked out from the library had a cover that had been redone to make the novel appear more contemporary, showing a young couple reclining in a field together. The sweetness of the story would appeal more to a fifth or sixth grade student, rather than the seventeen year olds that the title implies.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
On the Amazon.com site, Kiddy, a high school student from Northern California, wrote:
“Earlier this summer I picked up Seventeenth Summer and fell in love with the illustrious characters Daly has perfectly painted into her novel. It surprised me, however, when I checked the copyright date and noticed it was published in the early 1940's. I had absolutely no idea, considering the way love is truly timeless and this beautiful novel proves all of the above. As a high school student, I can completely relate with the giddy feelings of first love for a teenage girl and this novel perfectly portrays all of the emotions, trials and even tragedies that are intricate into such a powerful emotion.”

From Publishers Weekly: “College-bound Angie Morrow falls in love for the first time in the perennially popular Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly (1942), written while the author was still in college herself. Diary Like entries depict the trials and tribulations of adolescent amour.”