This book “The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian” By Sherman Alexie is about a young Native American teen and his journey of struggling to fit in with the two prominent communities in his life. In the beginning of the book, the reader is introduced to the main character, Arnold, or Junior. Junior lives on a Native American reservation that taught him when he was young that he would grow up and stay there for the rest of his life, limiting his perspective to just that place. So, Junior decides to go to a school outside of the reservation, Reardan, something that is not seen very often in his tribe, so that he can get a better education and have a better future. Soon, we find out what Junior has to go through at his school outside of his rez, where he deals with racism and struggles to fit into both prominent groups of life, fighting to have both parts of his life accept him; his rez life and his Reardan life. He then figures out as his life goes on that every part of him is okay and deserves to be accepted. This lesson is valuable and one that readers can learn as they go on this journey with Junior. The book "The Absolute True Diary Of A Part Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie is a beautiful book that teaches accepting yourself for who you are while showing that you should be yourself, and act the way you feel most comfortable.

Throughout the book, I saw the character of Junior change from an unconfident and ashamed young teen to a mentally strong person who accepted himself for who he was. At the beginning, he said things like “And if you’re fourteen years old, like me, and you’re still stuttering and lisping, then you become the biggest r*tard in the world.” However, by the end, he was more accepting, and said things like “And so I started to believe that I was good. I started to believe I was great. More than that, I started to believe that a little Indian boy like me could compete against white people.” This change makes me think the writer was trying to show that Junior went from a self loathing teen to a person that embraced themselves for who they were. Junior found to love all the perks about him that he previously thought was “weird” and listened less to other people’s input. 

As I read this book, I liked that I felt as if was really a part of Junior’s life, like I knew him as a friend and he was telling me a story about my life. I also felt empathy for him when he would be hurt or felt alone. The author’s writing makes the reader feel an emotional connection to the main character that is unique. As the conflict progressed and Junior’s members of his own tribe started disrespecting him, I learned that Junior is stronger than he even thinks he is, since he carried on and didn’t let it affect him as the book developed. I felt that Junior was getting stronger mentally everytime he would go back out into the world and surprise you as a reader.

Before I read this book, I had some (but not enough) knowledge about the topics of racism and not fitting in. I knew a little about this from other books specifically talking about the impacts of these issues, like in a history textbook. However, this book showed me a unique perspective on racism and feeling like an outlier from the point of view of someone who personally went through those experiences themselves. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who feels like they don’t belong in their community so that they can learn to love every aspect of themselves.