After the story

Discussion

Guide

1.

Consider the adjectives “absolutely true” and “part-time.” What concepts appear to be emphasized by the images and the title? Does the cover make a reference to Junior’s internal struggle, or a struggle between Junior and the white power structure, or both, or neither?

2.

By drawing cartoons, Junior feels safe. He draws “because I want to talk to the world. And I want the world to pay attention to me.” How do Junior’s cartoons (for example, “Who my parents would have been if somebody had paid attention to their dreams” and “white, white, white, white, white, white, white, white” and “white/Indian”) show his understanding of the ways that racism has deeply impacted his and his family’s lives?

3.

When Junior is in Reardan (the little white town), he is “half Indian,” and when he is in Wellpinit (his home reservation), he is “half white.” “It was like being Indian was my job,” he says, “but it was only a part-time job. And it didn’t pay well at all.” At Reardan High, why does Junior pretend to have more money than he does, even though he knows that “lies have short shelf lives”?

4.

Junior describes his home reservation as “located approximately one million miles north of Important and two billion miles west of Happy.” Yet when he and Rowdy look down from almost the top of an immense pine, he says, “We could see our entire world. And our entire world, at that moment, was green and golden and perfect.” What forces drive the dichotomy of Junior’s perceptions of his world and allow him to see the land in apparently disparate ways?

5.

Cultural outsiders who write young adult fiction tend to romanticize the impoverishment of Indians. Junior is having none of this: “It sucks to be poor, and it sucks to feel that you somehow deserve to be poor. You start believing that you’re poor because you’re stupid and ugly. And then you start believing that you’re stupid and ugly because you’re Indian. And because you’re Indian you start believing that you’re destined to be poor. It’s an ugly circle and there’s nothing you can do about it. Poverty doesn’t give you strength or teach you lessons about perseverance. No, poverty only teaches you how to be poor.” How does Junior’s direct language address this stereotypical portrayal of Indians? What about his language draws the teen reader into the realities of his life?

6.

Junior’s parents, Rowdy’s father, and others in their community are addicted to alcohol, and Junior’s white “friend with potential,” Penelope, has bulimia. “There are all kinds of addicts, I guess,” he says. “We all have pain. And we all look for ways to make the pain go away.” Compared to the characters in Jon Hassler’s young adult novel, Jemmy (Atheneum, 1980), how does Junior’s understanding of addiction transcend ethnicity and class?

7.

Junior refers to his home reservation as “the rez,” a familiar name for the place in which he was born, the place in which his friends and relatives for many generations back were born and are buried, and the land to which he is tied that, no matter how bad things get, will now and forever be called “home.” What would Junior think of a cultural outsider, such as Ian Frazier, who visits a reservation to gather material for a book and then calls his book On the Rez?

8.

At Junior’s grandmother’s funeral, held on the football field to accommodate all the people who loved her, Junior’s mother publicly gives a white billionaire his comeuppance to the delight of the whole community. “And then my mother started laughing,” Junior says. “And that set us all off. It was the most glorious noise I’d ever heard. And I realized that, sure, Indians were drunk and sad and displaced and crazy and mean but, dang, we knew how to laugh. When it comes to death, we know that laughter and tears are pretty much the same thing. And so, laughing and crying, we said goodbye to my grandmother. And when we said goodbye to one grandmother, we said goodbye to all of them. Each funeral was a funeral for all of us. We lived and died together.” How does this story reflect a cultural insider’s perspective and how does it disrupt stereotypes about stoic Indians?

9.

“I’m fourteen years old and I’ve been to forty-two funerals,” Junior says. “That’s really the biggest difference between Indians and white people.” In the community of Wellpinit, everyone is related, everyone is valued, everyone lives a hardscrabble life, everyone is at risk for early death, and the loss of one person is a loss to the community. Compare Wellpinit to Reardan, whose residents have greater access to social services, health care, and wealth, and people are socially distanced from each other. How does Junior use this blunt, matter-of-fact statement to describe this vast gulf between an impoverished Indian community and a middle-class white town just a few miles away?

10.

In many ways, Junior is engulfed by the emotional realities of his life and his community. Yet his spare, matter-of-fact language and his keen sense of irony help him to confront and negotiate the hurt, the rage, and the senselessness of Wellpinit’s everyday realities. How does Junior use language to lead readers, whose lives may be very different from his own, to the kind of understanding that they will not necessarily get from other young adult fiction, whose writers do not have this same kind of lived experience?

11.

Cultural markers can be defined as the behaviors, speech patterns, ways of seeing the world, ethics, and principles that identify a person as belonging to a particular culture. When Rowdy and Junior play one-on-one at the end of the book—and they don’t keep score—how is their friendship solidified by their deep knowing of who they are and what they come from?

Interview

with

Ellen

Forney

How long have you been drawing comics?

I’ve drawn pictures from as far back as I can remember, but I didn’t start drawing narrative comics until I was in high school. I drew a full-page comic for a friend who had quit her job at the ice cream parlor where we both worked—the piece was called “The Trials and Tribulations of Tina-Beena,” and included a bunch of little stories about the way South Philly girls pronounced “Oreos” and the time she argued with a customer—stuff like that. She loved it and hung it up in her kitchen under a piece of plastic wrap.

How did you and Sherman work together?

Sherman would give me a few chapters of his manuscript and ideas for what I might draw, and I’d do thumbnail sketches using his list as a bouncing-off point. Later, we’d go over what I’d come up with. About a third of the graphics were Sherman’s ideas, a third were real collaborations, and a third were my ideas that struck me as I read the text.

How was it getting into the head of Arnold Spirit?

Intense. Sherman describes Arnold so well in the text that I felt I had a good grip on who Arnold was. But to draw like him, to think of jokes that he might tell, I had to really immerse myself in being him, and it wasn’t an easy place to be.

For instance, while drawing my last round of thumbnail sketches, I was working in a café, with manuscripts and sketches spread out all over the table. I’d worked for hours, hadn’t eaten in a long time, and I drank too much coffee. I was deep in Arnold’s head and felt like I had to keep going. So much heavy stuff was happening in the story, that’s when I came up with some of Arnold’s darkest humor, like the comic about the last sip of wine and the Burning Love book cover cartoon when Arnold’s sister died.

Then when I got to the end of the manuscript, where Arnold and Row-dy play basketball, and as it was getting dark outside, I felt a tightening in my chest and I realized I was about to bawl. It felt like I was playing a bittersweet basketball game with Rowdy. I had a split second to decide whether or not I would cry in the café, and I put my head in my hands, sobbed once, and thought about something else. I had read that section so many times, but until then I hadn’t been so deep in Arnold’s mind.

What was your biggest concern/objective when creating the art for the book?

My absolute biggest concern was to make Arnold’s comics look authentic. I was afraid my work would look too polished and professional, or maybe too goofy, but I also didn’t want to dumb it down or stiffen it up. I briefly tried to draw like some of my teenage boy students, but that didn’t work at all—you could tell I was trying too hard and it was obvious that it wasn’t my style. So I talked about it with Sherman, and he thought it’d be fine if I just drew like me.

What’s the most difficult part of the process: sketching the artwork or inking?

My process for this book was different from usual. In most of my work, doing the thumbnails is hard (writing and drawing my brainstorming ideas), sketching is easier (penciling and polishing up what I’ve laid out in the thumbnails), and inking is easiest (I use a brush and india ink).

For this book, the thumbnails were hard because I had to stay in Arnold’s mindset, and I was interpreting someone else’s work. Sketching was weird because I had to remember to keep the looseness of the thumbnails, and inking was REALLY HARD! The drawings needed to look like Arnold just sat down and drew them, boom. This may sound counterintuitive, but it takes way more concentration and confidence to make fast lines and swoops than my usual slow and deliberate inking. Also, Arnold wouldn’t use a brush in his sketchbook, so I used a felt-tip pen. So not only was I using an unfamiliar tool, I was trying to make labored drawings look spontaneous. I got cramps in my hand a lot.

Why did you use so many different drawing styles?

I used three drawing styles. In my own sketchbooks (and scraps of paper and backs of envelopes), I use different styles for different purposes, and I felt that Arnold would, too. Arnold’s artwork needed to span different situations and moods, so his drawing style needed change as well.

First, the more scribbled-looking illustrations and comics suggest that Arnold is jotting down his thoughts in an immediate way, like he’d just had an idea and quickly wrote it down. Most of the artwork is like that.

Second, the slightly more realistic cartoons, like the annotated portraits of his family, suggest that he’s giving more thought to what he’s doing. Certain ideas would have been rumbling around his head and were well-developed by the time he put them on the page.

Third, the penciled portraits suggest two different types of intimate situations. Detailed, more realistic drawings can take a while, and in that way describe a span of time, so we know that Arnold was concentrating and focusing on his artwork and on whatever subject he was drawing.

The pencil sketches of his friends suggest that he spent a lot of time with his friends looking at them intently and that they were comfortable with that intimacy. For example, I imagined that Arnold sketched his friend Gordy as he studied in the library, concentrating on the weird way Gordy rested his face on his hand with his intent facial expression and the curve of his shoulders. Arnold was using his sketchbook to love Gordy, in a way.

Other pencil sketches, like the portrait of Eugene on a motorcycle, suggest that he drew them from a photograph. He wanted to spend time with those people, but for some reason—logistically, or emotionally—couldn’t do it in person.

One other detailed style was for the Penelope bird. When Arnold drew that, he was thinking about how he loved Penelope and how they both wanted to fly away. I thought he might sit with that feeling for a while and I imagined he was in the school library copying a bird out of a textbook.

Arnold would sit and draw very meditatively in ink—all the feathers, using shading, crosshatching, and even little dots.

Can you explain how the portrait of Rowdy evolved from being a straight-on elegant sketch to one that was defaced?

I actually did a similar thing in one of my own sketchbooks several years ago. I was in a terrible mood, and was drawing a self-portrait to get it out of my system. I was about half-done and I hated it, so I scribbled a big “X” over my whole face. When I looked at it later, I realized that it reflected my mood much better than if I’d actually finished the drawing.

The drawing of Rowdy is meant to be a vignette, describing the particular intimacy in Arnold and Row-dy’s friendship. Rowdy was much more defensive than Arnold about how close they were, and was constantly pulling Arnold to him and pushing him away, often at the same time. I pictured the scene like this: Rowdy was lying on the floor in an unself-conscious way. Arnold was sneakily drawing a portrait of him, but when Arnold was only half-done, Rowdy looked up and snapped, “What’re you drawing?!” The scene changed from intimacy to defensiveness with Arnold stopping and scribbling the cartoon face over Rowdy’s face, with the word balloon of Rowdy’s verbal slap.

I hadn’t planned all that out when I started doing the sketch, but when I was half-done, I realized that Arnold wouldn’t have been able to pin Rowdy down for very long. I took a piece of tracing paper and scribbled an angry cartoon face over Rowdy’s face, and that looked just right to me.

What do you feel is the biggest contribution your artwork brings to the book?

Arnold depends on his cartoons to express himself, be understood, to escape, and to survive. He says they are his “tiny little lifeboats.” The reader needs to see what he’s talking about and what he means by that.

Drawing in your own sketchbook is like writing in your own diary, which is very personal. And creative people can do some intense work when they’re using their medium to express themselves, just for themselves. Arnold doesn’t even understand all these things he’s getting down on paper, because so much comes through subconsciously.

I also did all of Arnold’s handwriting. Handwritten text in general can have a lot of emotional power and charm. Like a handwritten letter, it’s much more personal and individual than typeset text. There’s also a sense of immediacy because you can’t cut-and-paste or delete paragraphs; you only write and that’s that.

The “crinkled scraps of paper” design was to make sure the graphics were set apart somehow so they didn’t just look like illustrations drawn straight from the text. The look makes clear that Arnold doesn’t have a nice, shiny sketchbook, but instead collects his artwork on scraps of paper.

What did you take away from this project?

I got to stretch my repertoire and deal with material that I wouldn’t have come up with on my own. I really wanted to do justice to the story, Junior, Sherman, and to the complex issues Sherman evoked so beautifully with his words. The manuscript is so rich and vivid; I couldn’t help but think, “What a task!” Doing this work was like running a marathon, eating a big rich feast, and walking into creepy basements with a candle.

My dad got a copy of the book as soon as it came out. He’d read a review that said he’d laugh and cry, which he of course shrugged off as marketing pap. The next day, he called me to say that he’d chuckled out loud and teared up a few times by the end. He was amazed.

Diary has struck a chord with so many people, in so many different ways. It’s accessible to all ages, all sorts of people. It’s an honor to be a part of a work that so many people find inspirational.

Interview

with

Sherman

Alexie

How did you decide to write a semi-autobiographical story, as opposed to something 100% fictional, for your first YA novel?

The story of my first year in Reardan was in a family memoir I was working on, but it didn’t fit at all. It was very tangential, because it was about my family’s history with the war. A first year at a white high school didn’t fit with the battle of Okinawa. So I took that section out and it was sitting on my desk when a kids’ book editor called me (she’d called me once a year for about eight years asking me where my young adult novel was) and as I was talking to her I looked at that excised manuscript and thought, “I think I have the book.”

How did you separate, if at all, the character of Junior from yourself at that age? Where does young Sherman leave off and Junior begin?

He’s so much smarter than I was! That’s one of the things that made it easier to write. And he’s kinder. So it was pretty easy to write a smarter, kinder version of myself.

Was it difficult writing this novel, either because it is semi-autobiographical or because it was your first YA? If so, how did you find the motivation/inspiration to keep moving forward?

It was really difficult to write my first YA. The differences are very subtle and I’ve still been unable to answer just what those differences are. My overall response is just that I have a great editor. It’s still difficult. It’s not natural for me. I’m very much an adult writer who needs great young adult editing. But in terms of the autobiographical nature, it was toughest to write about the deaths because they were all based on real life and in writing about it and being involved in it again, the grief returned, especially about my sister.

When you were writing True Diary, having illustrations in a YA novel was rare. What made you decide to include this element in the story?

I had just become a huge fan of graphic novels. I had always been a big comic book fan and I also live in the city with Fantagraphics, which is one of the premier graphic novel publishers in the world, and they’re always sending me free stuff—Seattle is a big graphic novelist city. And I’ve always been envious of people who could draw and writers often write books to be able to do things they can’t do. I’ve written novels about being a rock star, and now I’ve written a novel about being a graphic novelist.

How did you choose Ellen Forney to do the art? Were there any other artists who were considered?

She popped into my head immediately! Part of it was her own work, which deals a lot with her own childhood, so I knew she could capture the feeling of being a teenager. Who knew that a thirty-something white woman could capture a teenage Indian boy? But she did.

Is there an illustration in that book that touches you more than the others? If so, which one and why?

Oh gosh. That’s a tough one. The one that ends up really getting the book is Junior and the white kid, separated down the middle, where Junior doesn’t have a watch (“it’s skin-thirty!”). The stark contrast of that drawing really gets me.

What’s one piece of advice you would give to a young person who wants to break free from the life that’s been set out for them and find their own way?

You have to get very comfortable with the idea of being lonely. For all of human history, we’ve always run away from being lonely and now there are even more distractions. But that’s the thing—if you’re going to make the decision to rebel against your tribe, you’re going to get very lonely.

But a more practical piece of advice—join every dang club there is.

If you could meet young Arnold Spirit, what advice would you give him?

Don’t get serious with a girlfriend. Concentrate on basketball.

Since this is semi-autobiographical, what has the reaction been from family and friends who inspired characters in the book? What has the reaction been in your hometown?

Everybody loves it. I’ve only received one negative e-mail from somebody I knew in those days and it was surprising to me, because the person who sent it was a few years older and we weren’t close.

My high school basketball coach, girls I dated, friends—they all wanted signed copies and they were very excited. Of course, they also recognize that it’s very fictional in a lot of ways. But both sides, Wellpinit and Reardan, everyone respected the book.

I also think it’s interesting to note (not that I think I had anything to do with this): There are about fifty kids from Wellpinit who go to the Reardan school now. Where once it was just me and my sisters waiting alone at the bus stop, there are a few dozen kids now.

Was it difficult blending comedy and tragedy into one story? How did you manage to keep the humor amid such heartbreaking subject matter?

That’s just the way I am. It’s difficult for me to be any other way. I am always, in my professional and personal life, inappropriate. That’ll be on my tombstone: “He was inappropriate.”

What is the greatest gift you got from Reardan? What is the greatest gift you got from Wellpinit?

From Wellpinit—tolerance for eccentricity.

From Reardan—the value of hard work. The glory of the sixteen-hour day.

Did you really have a best friend like Rowdy? If so, do you still speak to him?

Yes, there is a very similar character. And yes we’re still friends. You’re never as close to your childhood friends as you were then. He loved the book and still lives on the rez. He left the rez school the year after I did for another school on the border, for very similar reasons.

What did you want to get out of this novel when you wrote it? What would you want readers to take away from it?

Junior talks about it—relating to dozens if not hundreds of tribes. Even as the world tries to define you, narrow the definition of you, don’t do it to yourself.

True Diary touches on a number of “tough” subjects such as alcoholism, poverty, masturbation, fighting, death, etc. Were there any subjects you were hesitant to broach?

No.

Well… I certainly respect any parent’s right to determine what their child is reading. They don’t get to determine it fora whole school or community, but that said I was the only Democrat in my high school. I went to high school with a bunch of extremely conservative Republican Christians (in other words, the kind of people who generally seek to ban my book) and let me tell you—those conservative Christian kids and I were exactly alike. I was publicly inappropriate, they were privately inappropriate. All this stuff that is controversial is stuff that kids are dealing with on a daily basis.

At the end of True Diary, Junior lists all of the tribes he belongs to. What tribes do you belong to now?

I would bet my primary one is around basketball, still. Also Luddite book readers. That’s pretty much it. That’s one of the things you have to watch out for as you get older—you start to narrow again. Into your twenties it’s a lot easier to be multi-tribal. But into your thirties, you have to keep yourself from narrowing.

What has been the most rewarding part about writing a novel for young adults?

The letters I get from kids, and from an incredible diversity of kids: from poor reservation kids to rich prep school kids, all of them with a similar theme: “I’m alone and your book helps me.”

Of the many types of writing you do, poetry, short stories, novels, etc., which is the most enjoyable for you?

I’m a poet. That’s what I write most of the time, that’s what I read most of the time. And certainly Little, Brown is after me to write poems for young adults so I wonder if I can figure that out someday.

PRAISE FOR

THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN

A National Book Award Winner BOSTON GLOBE – HORN BOOK Award Winner A NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller An LA TIMES Book Award nomination A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW Notable Book (children’s books) A BookSense #1 Pick A BookSense Bestseller A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY Bestseller An ALA Best Book for Young Adults An NYPL Book for the Teen Age A BCCB Blue Ribbon Winner A SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL Best Book of the Year A HORN BOOK Fanfare Best Book of the Year An Amazon.com Best Book of the Year A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY Best Book of the Year A KIRKUS REVIEWS Best YA Book A NAPPA Gold Award A PNBA Book Award Winner A Notable Book for a Global Society A KLIATT Editor’s Choice, Hardcover YA Fiction An ABC Best Book for Children A PW “Off the Cuff” Favorite YA Novel Award

“[TRUE DIARY] is Alexie’s first foray into the young adult genre, and it took him only one book to master the form…. This is a gem of a book…. For fifteen years, Sherman Alexie has explored the struggle to survive between the grinding plates of the Indian and white worlds. He’s done it through various characters and genres, but [TRUE DIARY] may be his best work yet.”

—NEW YORK TIMES

“The National Book Award–nominated DIARY is a remarkable tale that is sure to resonate and lift spirits of all ages for years to come.”

—USA TODAY

“When my horoscope said I was going to meet someone tall, dark and handsome… who knew he’d be fourteen! Thankfully for me, Arnold Spirit is one of the funniest, most endearing characters I’ve met in a very long time. This book is so original, I laughed consistently from beginning to end.”

—Amy Sedaris, actress, comedian, and author

“Few writers are more masterful than Sherman Alexie…. The high school misfit is a familiar young-adult-story template, but Alexie makes it fresh because this particular misfit is one who doesn’t often appear in print.”

—LOS ANGELES TIMES

“Excellent in every way, poignant and really funny and heartwarming and honest and wise and smart…. I have no doubt that in a year or so it’ll both be winning awards and being banned.”

—Bestselling author Neil Gaiman

*“A Native American equivalent of ANGELA’S ASHES, a coming-of-age story so well observed that its very rootedness in one specific culture is also what lends it universality, and so emotionally honest that the humor almost always proves painful…. Jazzy syntax and [Ellen] Forney’s witty cartoons… transmute despair into dark humor; Alexie’s no-holds-barred jokes have the effect of throwing the seriousness of his themes into high relief.”

—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred review)

*“The many characters, on and off the rez, with whom [Junior] has dealings are portrayed with compassion and verve, particularly the adults in his extended family. Forney’s simple pencil cartoons fit perfectly within the story and reflect the burgeoning artist within Junior.”

—SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL (starred review)

“Emotionally spring-loaded, linguistically gymnastic, and devastatingly funny in turns… Alexie nails the ups and downs of a young artist learning to navigate by his own radar. Ellen Forney’s inspired illustrations channel Junior’s manic, tell-it-like-it-is sensibility.”

—SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN

*“Alexie nimbly blends sharp wit with unapologetic emotion…. Junior’s keen cartoons sprinkle the pages as his fluid narration deftly mingles raw feeling with funny, sardonic insight.”

—KIRKUS (starred review)

*“Breathtakingly honest, funny, profane, sad… Alexie has a unique story to tell, and he tells it with raw emotion leavened with humor.”

—KLIATT (starred review)

“Sherman Alexie brings us a singular, true voice that’s heart-breaking, honest, and stubbornly memorable.”

—Deb Caletti, author of HONEY, BABY, SWEETHEART

*“Alexie’s portrayal of reservation life, with the help of a great lineup of supporting characters, is realistic and fantastical and funny and tragic—all at the same time. Forney’s drawings, appearing throughout the book, enhance the story and could nearly stand alone.”

—VOYA (starred review)

*“The line between dramatic monologue, verse novel, and standup comedy gets unequivocally—and hilariously and triumphantly—bent in this novel about coming of age on the rez…. Junior’s narration is intensely alive and rat-a-tat-tat with short paragraphs and one-liners…. The dominant mode of the novel is comic, even though there’s plenty of sadness.”

—HORN BOOK (starred review)

“I know Sherman Alexie is on his game when I’m reading his book, laughing my ass off while my heart is breaking. THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN captivates absolutely.”

—Chris Crutcher, author of DEADLINE

*“What emerges most strongly is Junior’s uncompromising determination to press on while leaving nothing important behind.”

—BCCB (starred review)

“The most delightful tale of adolescence I’ve read in a long time. Junior Spirit is as eager to know everything in the world as Harriet the Spy, as keenly discerning of adult frailty as Holden Caulfield…. Junior possesses an against-all-odds resilience that stems as much from his brain (water and all) as his capacious, open heart.”

—Alison Bechdel, cartoonist and author of FUN HOME

“Alexie’s humor and prose are easygoing and well suited to his young audience, and he doesn’t pull many punches as he levels his eye at stereotypes both warranted and inapt…. This ultimately affirms the incredible power of best friends to hurt and heal in equal measure. [Readers] looking for the strength to lift themselves out of rough situations would do well to start here.”

—BOOKLIST

“In Arnold (Junior), Alexie creates the best kind of nerdy boy character: fierce, fearless, funny, and unforgettable.”

—Cecil Castellucci, author of BOY PROOF and BEIGE

“Fierce observations and sharp sense of humor… The tough ideas Junior comes to terms with… coupled with the hilarious language Alexie puts in Junior’s mouth, make this an entertaining and intellectually engaging read for teens. Ellen Forney’s illustrations give life to Junior’s aspirations to be a cartoonist. Her drawings are so filled with Junior’s personality that it is easy to think they spring from his own vivid, albeit fictional, imagination.”

—NEWSDAY

“THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN is [Alexie’s] first book for young readers and it is exceptionally good…. Arnold’s story is indelibly sad… but Alexie leavens the pathos with humor, and Arnold is a wonderful character.”

—MIAMI HERALD

“Arnold Spirit’s offbeat coming-of-age tale will touch your battle-scarred teenaged heart.”

—Megan Kelso, cartoonist and author of THE SQUIRREL MOTHER

“Alexie’s first novel for young adults is funny, self-deprecating, and serious all at once. With his perceptive narrator, Alexie deftly taps into the human desire to stand out while fitting in.”

—BOOKPAGE

“Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written.”

—Association of Booksellers for Children

“The zest and contemporary sparkle of [TRUE DIARY], with art by Ellen Forney, draw readers straight into the world of Arnold Spirit…. Junior’s honest, critical eye and verbal succinctness give this story a verve and humor that make it irresistible…. This is utterly engaging as a teen novel. For many, it will open up a new world of awareness.”

—TORONTO STAR SUNDAY

“Often outrageous comics accompany often X-rated narrative; both are sweet and cynical, hilarious and brutally honest, tender and achingly sad.”

—SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

“In his first work of fiction for young adults, [Sherman Alexie] has created an endearing teen protagonist in his own likeness and placed him in the here and now.”

—MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE

Contents

Front Cover Image

Welcome

Dedication

Epigraph

Foreword

The Black-Eye-of-the-Month Club

Why Chicken Means So Much to Me

Revenge Is My Middle Name

Because Geometry Is Not a Country Somewhere Near

France Hope Against Hope

Go Means Go

Rowdy Sings the Blues

How to Fight Monsters

Grandmother Gives Me Some Advice

Tears of a Clown

Halloween

Slouching Toward Thanksgiving

My Sister Sends Me an E-mail

Thanksgiving

Hunger Pains

Rowdy Gives Me Advice About Love

Dance, Dance, Dance

Don’t Trust Your Computer

My Sister Sends Me a Letter

Reindeer Games

And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

Red Versus White

Wake

Valentine Heart

In Like a Lion

Rowdy and I Have a Long and Serious Discussion About

Basketball Because Russian Guys Are Not Always Geniuses

My Final Freshman Year Report Card

Remembering

Talking About Turtles

Discussion Guide

Interview with Ellen Forney

Interview with Sherman Alexie

Praise for the Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Copyright

Copyright

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Copyright © 2007 by Sherman Alexie Illustrations copyright © 2007 by Ellen Forney Foreword © 2009 by Marcus Zusak Interviews © 2009 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

Little, Brown and Company Hachette Book Group

237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017

www.hachettebookgroup.com

First e-book edition: January 2012

Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-316-21930-3