Tag Archives: Banned Books

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

Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

The Absolutely True Part-Time Diary of an Indian
Sherman Alexie
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

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About The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

After a school incident provokes a teacher to challenge fifteen year-old Junior, he leaves the school on the Spokane Indian Reservation for an all-white school in a nearby town with better resources. At first, Junior’s new schoolmates shun him for being different, and at home, his friends shun him for being a traitor and leaving the reservation. Through cartoon drawings and frank narrative, Junior wrestles with his own sense of value and the value of his people.

My Review

Part of what makes this story so powerful is the fact that we see not only Junior’s internal struggles as he wrestles with his identity and value, but that we see the culture and people of the reservation through his eyes as well. We clearly feel his warring love and frustration. We cringe at the gaffs of (sometimes) well-meaning white people who come to the reservation or who interact with Junior at school.

I feel like it shouldn’t take a novel so poignantly written to take me outside my own point-of-view and really make me think about how things sound or come across, well-meaning or not. Sometimes it does take being forced to imagine life from a completely perspective in order to succeed in doing so.

The poverty in which so many of the families lived is portrayed so vividly. Sadly, stupidly, I had never even thought about this, and I’m ashamed to admit that. We talk about ending world hunger and people talk about children in the US being hungry, too. I just really hadn’t thought to look further for names and faces, if that makes sense?

I loved that though Junior’s diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, his story isn’t defined by this condition. He’s a talented artist and basketball player as well as a loving son, brother and friend. (This sounds like a eulogy…. He doesn’t die in the story, I promise.)

Another thing that was really well-described was the difference in the sense of community in the town of Reardon vs the sense of community at the reservation. Junior points things out directly a few times, but the story itself shows the ways in which the culture of each is different and how Junior responds differently in each place.

Banned Book

I’d been meaning to read this story for a while because several times I’ve heard of different school districts banning the book for the sexual content. I can understand how, as a conservative parent trying to teach your child that masturbation is morally wrong, handing your child a book which bluntly states that it’s something everyone does and everyone enjoys would be problematic.

On the one hand, I’m not a huge fan of book banning. On the other hand, I’m a fan of having freedom to raise children according to moral and spiritual doctrines of my choosing, even if they’re contrary to popular belief or opinion. So… I’d say it’s a tough call.

I also believe that issues like this within literature can make for a great opportunity to discuss beliefs and why our family believes certain things or does things a certain way that other people might not follow. But it’s certainly not the only opportunity for discussion.

I found this book to be a valuable voice in children’s literature. I understand why some parents might choose not to read this book or allow their kids to read it. Despite the brief content, though, I feel like The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian gives an important perspective. For me, it was definitely worth reading.

Content Notes

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some crude language and mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Junior briefly discusses his feelings about masturbation – mainly, that everyone does it and everyone enjoys it. Later, one of his friends drags him to the library and describes being there as an experience which should give one a metaphorical “boner.”

Junior gives a gift to his best friend Rowdy. Rowdy’s dad makes fun of the gesture, calling Junior derogatory names.

Junior has a girlfriend at school. They exchange brief kisses. Her father makes a somewhat crude comment warning Junior to keep his hands and other areas of interest to himself.

Spiritual Content
Brief references to cultural ceremonies.

After the loss of a family members and a dear friend, Junior grieves. He describes the process, saying at one point that he “mocked God.” A cartoon shows a crowd of people making fun of Jesus.

Violence
Junior gets beat up a lot on the reservation. His best friend’s father beats him up, and his friend in turn beats other kids up. Junior describes the social climate on the reservation as having strict rules which require you to fight anyone who insults you or your family. Later, off the reservation, a boy at school insults him, and Junior punches him. He is puzzled when the boy doesn’t fight back.

Drug Content
References to drug abuse and alcoholism happening at the reservation. Junior’s dad is an alcoholic. Several deaths in the story have a direct relationship to alcohol abuse.

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Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers: Review and Thoughts on Book Banning

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Parenting, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Some Girls Are
Courtney Summers
St. Martin’s Griffin

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Climbing to the top of the social ladder is hard—falling from it is even harder.  Regina Afton used to be a member of the Fearsome Fivesome, an all-girl clique both feared and revered by the students at Hallowell High… until vicious rumors about her—and her best friend’s boyfriend—start going around.  Now Regina’s been frozen out, and her ex-best friends are out for revenge. 

If Regina were guilty, it would be one thing, but the rumors are far from the terrifying truth, and the bullying is getting more intense by the day.  She takes solace in the company of Michael Hayden, a misfit with a tragic past whom she herself used to bully.  Friendship doesn’t come easily for these onetime enemies, and as Regina works hard to make amends for her past, she realizes Michael could be more than just a friend…if threats from the Fearsome Foursome don’t break them both first.

Tensions grow and the abuse worsens, as the final days of senior year march toward an explosive conclusion in this dark new tale from the author of CRACKED UP TO BE.

My Review

It’s hard for me not to compare this book to ALL THE RAGE, a more recently published novel by Courtney Summers which deals with some of the same issues (see content warning). I think I liked ALL THE RAGE better because it dealt more with the way the town as a whole responded to a rape allegation and some brutal high school bullying. I also connected more with Romy, the protagonist in ALL THE RAGE.

In SOME GIRLS ARE, Regina comes to regret her role in bullying other students, but in some ways, it still feels like that’s all she knows. She retaliates against her former friends in an effort to bring them down low enough that they’ll leave her alone. Instead, it continues the vicious cycle, only adding more fuel to the fires of revenge.

I think choosing to tell SOME GIRLS ARE from Regina’s perspective and bringing her passion for revenge to the forefront were really bold decisions and carried an important message. Regina isn’t the stereotypical novel victim, and I loved that. Unfortunately, I think I just didn’t really believe in her transformation at the end. I needed to see like three chapters more showing that she’d really changed and that she and Michael (whom I absolutely LOVED!!!) could work out together.

In YA, resolving an issue with any kind of adult involvement gets really tricky. Having a grown-up soar in and rescue the protagonist is a storytelling no-no. So I both appreciate and understand why that wasn’t the direction Summers took with the resolution of SOME GIRLS ARE. With a situation involving this kind of brutal bullying, it’s hard for me as a parent not to want adults involved. I believe we want kids to know they can and should bring adults into the equation when they reach a point where they can no longer attend school and feel safe.

I do want to acknowledge that sometimes kids are in situations where there isn’t a safe adult for them to go to, so I know that isn’t always a viable solution in real life, either.

SOME GIRLS ARE left me wishing for at least a nod to some adult figure who made at least some responsible call somewhere. Instead, I felt like the message was that if you can get good enough blackmail on a bully, you might just be able to stop the whole cycle.

Update: Since reading this book, I’ve discovered that I tend not to enjoy revenge stories. So probably at least part of my feelings for this one relate to that preference.

Content Notes

Content warning for mentions of rape, bullying, physical violence, mentions of suicide, death of a parent, drug use, drinking alcohol.

Language Content
Extreme and frequent use of profanity.

Sexual Content
At a party, a boy tries to rape a girl. He tears her skirt and leaves her arms bruised. Regina and her boyfriend Josh have had sex before. A boy taunts Regina about it, repeatedly asking if she only likes it in the dark. He also makes a crude comment about oral sex. Kissing between a boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
See sexual content. A group of girls surround Regina and repeatedly punch and kick her. A boy elbows another boy in the face, giving him a bloody nose. A dodgeball hits a boy in the face, giving him a bloody nose. A girl trips another girl, sending her tumbling down the stairs.

Girls use social media to bully Regina. They spread rumors about her and say cruel things to her and to one another. It’s not the first time this group has bullied someone. A previous target tried to commit suicide.

Brief reference to a woman killed when an overpass collapsed on her car. No real description of the accident.

Drug Content
One boy supplies students with pharmaceutical drugs. Teens gather at parties to drink alcohol. Mentions of smoking pot. Regina is the designated driver at both parties, but mentions that she drinks heavily at other times and winds up sick at the end of the night. She drinks alcohol in a couple of other scenes.

On Some Girls Are Being Removed from a Charleston Summer Reading List

I bought this book last summer (2015) when I heard about the decision by West Ashley High in Charleston to remove the book from their ninth grade summer reading list after receiving complaints from a parent about the content of the novel. The messages the books tackles are really important to us as a culture. I really admire this author’s unflinching look at some of the darker moments of high school. But, I see why it concerned this parent that a very limited required reading list included this option.

I have really mixed feelings about banning books. The short answer is I’m generally not a fan of book-banning. Largely because one vocal minority makes a decision that no one should have the option to read a particular book. I do not want to give the power to a select group to decide what we’re allowed to read.

I love that this particular parent made the choice to read the book with her daughter. Her ninth grade daughter had the choice between this book and another one and would be tested on comprehension once school started. As a parent, I’d certainly be uncomfortable with the amount of explicit content included in the book. I’d be uncomfortable that it’s on a reading list like this, where there are such limited options.

Banning a book, though, means one parent or a few make a decision for many kids beyond their own. I’m not sure that the book was banned in the school district as a whole, however. The article I read only mentions removing it from the reading list and adding another alternative selection for the class.

Courtney Summers received a ton of support from her fans and the YA community after the whole incident. Fans donated several hundred copies of the book, and public libraries in Charleston distributed them to the community. I think it’s really great that she received so much support. I do really believe in the importance of the kinds of issues she tackles in her writing.

Note: Post updated July 4, 2022. This post contains affiliate links which don’t cost anything to use but which help generate support for this blog.