Sherman Alexie’s Reservation Blues is about hardship and connecting with your roots. The author is a Native American from the Spokane Indian Reservation, where the book takes place. The book is about the journey of an all-Indian band from a garage on a poor reservation to a recording studio in Manhattan. It mainly takes place in the 90’s but it jumps around in time, going both to the past and to the dream worlds of many of the characters. Sherman Alexie uses the book to convey his opinion about staying true to your culture. He uses page breaks, bold letters, and repetition to draw the reader in and emphasize important themes. The author uses horses repeatedly to represent traditional Indian culture. Every time the main characters stray from tradition, the horses scream. For example when one of the main characters says that he will not return to the reservation, the horses scream. The book helps raise awareness about the status of Indian reservations. There are major themes of alcoholism and poverty which help to convey the message that Native Americans have difficult lives. The book is very engaging and covers interesting topics but it often gets confusing. It is hard to tell what is real and what isn’t, but the confusion also makes you want to keep reading. There are adult themes in Reservation Blues which make it unsuitable for children, that being said, these themes don’t retract from the quality of the book. If you are someone who is interested in learning about life on an Indian reservation, this book would appeal to you.