The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian
As S.E. Hinton wrote in Tex, “There are some people who go places and some who stay.” Arnold Spirit will go places. In this touching and laugh out loud story Arnold tells just what it takes to make it in the world. Poor Arnold. He has a rough life. He was born with water on the brain. After surgery to treat the problem, he has permanent brain damage which causes him to stutter, lisp, and have 10 extra teeth. Because of all that he is constantly being picked on. But that’s not getting Arnold down. In fact, Arnold is doing everything he can to beat the odds. All his life he has grown up on a reservation, or the Rez as Arnold calls it. His family is very poor and his father is often drunk. He best friend is the town bully, but he is also Arnold’s protection. When one of the reservation teachers tells Arnold he is really smart and not to give up like so many other Indians on the reservation have, Arnold decides the only way to be someone is to get off the reservation. Arnold enrolls in the closest public school, almost 25 miles away in Reardan. It’s a hick town, small minded, with hardly any minorities and Arnold Spirit sticks out like a sore thumb. The first day is rough, but after Arnold punches the captain of the football team, he slowly earns the school’s respect. The Indians back home seem to think Arnold is acting superior and even his best friend stops talking to him. Arnold finds himself split to two…stay on the reservation and become a loser or risk everything to get off the reservation.
