I don’t know where to start with this book. "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie is an exceptional book. It is Alexie’s first young adult novel and is partially autobiographical. In it he allows alter ego Junior, a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, to tell his story. Alexie was born hydrocephalic which means with water on the brain. Although not expected to survive, he beat the odds. Alexie/Junior both suffer side effects, such as seizures, throughout childhood. Frankly, I am not sure where the two stories diverge. I will let 14 year-old Junior tell the story.

"I was born with water on the brain.

"Okay, so that’s not exactly true. I was actually born with too much cerebral spinal fluid inside my skull. But cerebral spinal fluid is just the doctors’ fancy way of saying brain grease. And brain grease works inside the lobes like car grease works inside an engine. It keeps things running smooth and fast. But weirdo me, I was born with too much grease inside my skull and it got all thick and muddy and disgusting, and it only mucked up the works. My thinking and breathing and living engine slowed and flooded.

"My brain was drowning in grease."

Told from the point-of-view of a 14 year-old boy, this provides the flavor of the book. It is unfortunate but true that children born "different" are often bullied, and this was the case with Junior. His head, hands and feet were larger than normal. He had ten more teeth than he should. He wore enormous glasses from the age of three. He had a stutter and a lisp plus seizures. Junior is a kid with several strikes against him. He lives on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington. Again, in his words he says,

"Everybody on the rez calls me a retard about twice a day…

"Do you know what happens to retards on the rez?

"We get beat up.

"At least once a month.

"Yep, I belong to the Black-Eye-of-the-Month Club."

Junior is a budding cartoonist. The cartoons, which he draws, are his salvation. "So, I draw because I feel like it might be my only real chance to escape the reservation." He believes that cartoons are his "tiny little lifeboats" in a world of broken dams and floods.

Junior eventually leaves the "rez" to attend a white school in a neighboring town. His peers on the reservation ostracize him. To them he is a traitor. They call him an apple—red on the outside, white on the inside. However, he knows, leaving the reservation, is his only chance to escape his bleak fate.

Over the course of a year, alcoholism and death shadow Junior’s life. Only the humor in this wonderful book keeps the grief from becoming overwhelming. It turns despair into hope. "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" is a stunning book. I highly recommend this book for both teens and adults.

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