Expanding Students' Horizons Through Multicultural Literature

     When the professor exclaimed that The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian was the funniest book ever, I was a little skeptical. After all, I had just finished reading Totally Joe. So was it the funniest book ever?

     

     Yes it was.

     

      I almost choked on the cookie I was eating while reading this novel. I was laughing out loud at various scenes in the book, especially when the main character's “kind of” girlfriend was violently throwing up in the bathroom.

This book has many emotional ups and downs. That's what I loved about it. At certain times, especially when he finds out that his sister was burned alive while drunk, I almost wanted to cry. Or when his father gave him five dollars for Christmas (and late) yet he was grateful.

     I also found out why this book is on the banned list of many schools. Yet I would still keep this in my classroom. I don't think I would use it as a read aloud because it does contain many sexual references which many parents and administrators might not like. However, I would keep it on my shelf or use excerpts. This is the kind of book just about any student would enjoy: boy, girl, White, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, African American, multiracial, reader, non-reader, etc. I loved the illustrations and the brutal honesty of this book. It wouldn't have been nearly as good without those things.

     The one thing is that I would make this book appropriate for 8^th grade and higher. I would recommend this book to my younger brother in high school. I kept thinking Oh, Junior would think this part was hilarious, or Man, and Junior thought our Christmases sucked. I also have twin brothers in middle school and a nephew in fifth grade. I would maybe give this to the twins to read because there are some things in this book that they are still not fully aware about (I hope). I would never give it to my nephew (not to mention my sister would FREAK). Now that I think about it, I would give this book to the twins. That's how bad I want them to read. Then again, my mom and older brother would FREAK.

     Anyway. Now moving on to the slightly less engaging articles about Native American literature. As far as the sports debate, I say that as long as they are not offended, I don't think it's a big deal. Except for the term “Redskin.” I feel like that term a lot more people see as offensive. I think it's the same as “wetback” for Hispanics. I can see how that should be rid of. If “wetback” was used today, it would cause an uproar. If it was used in a few hundred years, most people might have forgotten how offensive it was so they might be okay with it. However, it still has a very negative history as a word.

     Moving on to the longer article, I think it is important to make children aware of these stereotypes as young as possible. They should know that, yes, Native Americans are still around, and Thanksgiving did not happen exactly as they think they did. That also goes for the Pocahontas movie. I also appreciate the questions for guidance on selecting Native American literature. I think many times we used stereotypical materials in the classroom that we are not aware about. 

 

Alexie, S. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown.

Harris, V. J., & Reese, D. (1997). Native Americans in Children's Literature. Using multiethnic literature in the K-8 classroom (pp. 155-185). Norwood, Mass.: Christopher-Gordon.

Price, S. (2002, March 4). The Indian Wars. Sports Illustrated, 96, 66-72.