Module 10: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

· Book cover image:

                                           

    

· Book Summary:

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is the story of Arnold Spirit also known as Junior. He is a fourteen year old Native American living on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Life on the rez is quite mind numbing and poor as Junior depicts it. The story of Junior on the reservation is cruel and real. Going hungry and missing a meal or two Junior writes is good sometimes because “being hungry makes food taste better.” Through his narrative Junior manages to make life on the rez hilarious and sad at the same time. At the time of Junior’s birth, he was born with water in the brain as he says to make it easy on the reader (he often talks to the reader) and has a large head, big feet, and lopsided eyes. One would think he is a gargoyle. Even with all its problems, life on the reservation is fine with Junior. He is even looking forward to his freshman year when he can learn Geometry because he likes corners. As he gets his geometry book, Junior notices that his mother used the same exact book when she was a freshman. This was at least 30 years before. This enrages Junior because the injustices of the treatment of Native Americans on reservations is plain to him. He then throws the textbook at the teacher, breaks the teacher’s nose, and gets expelled. During his expulsion, Mr. P his geometry teacher visits him at home and convinces Junior to strive for better than the reservation offers. Junior decides to go to the white school 20 miles away in Reardan. Well life now gets harder for Junior, but he is smarter than most in the school, makes friends with a genius, becomes a basketball star, and falls in love with a beautiful bulimic. Life is good, except that his grandmother is killed by a drunk Spokane Indian, his sister gets married and dies in her home in a fire, and his dad’s best friend Eugene is shot by a coworker. Even with all the heartbreak in his life, Junior’s spirit is not deterred. At the end of his first year at Reardan, Junior know realized that he belonged not just to his Spokane Indian tribe, but to many tribes as Junior writes in the book. He belongs to the tribe of basketball players, American immigrants, cartoonists, tortilla chips-and-salsa lovers, and many more tribes too. The story of Junior the freshman ends on a hopeful note even if he live on the rez.

· APA Reference of Book:

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

· Impressions:

This was not what I expected. I do not really know what I expected. Sherman Alexie made me laugh, made me cry, made me mad, and made me sad. All sometimes on the same page.

I feel only a person who has lived that culture can write and talk so candidly about their culture. On the opening pages he discusses being hungry, being poor, losing your dreams, and shooting his dog, Oscar, because they could not afford a veterinarian. All of this and I was only on page eleven. Yet because of Alexie’s witticisms and just plain hilarious words, I was enthralled with the book. I could not put it down. At first I was wondering why it was on the censored list. I wondered if people thought maybe Alexie was exaggerating and that was why it was censored. The conditions of the Native American reservations is not an exaggeration. The conditions are sometimes deplorable and as a nation we should be ashamed that we have destined a whole culture and race of human beings to live apart from the rest of society. Why do we let it continue I wonder to myself? I have no answers but I do know that Alexie is not making these things up unfortunately. Let me get off my soapbox and continue with my impressions. I loved the honesty of Junior and the way he is portrayed with sincerity. Even though he says bad words and thinks mean things (he is fourteen after all), he is always a polite and respectful young man to everyone around him even Rowdy for the most part. Arnold goes through so much on the reservation and at Reardan and yet he always seems to bounce back. When Penelope pretends to not know him and looks at Arnold and “sniffs” him like he was a dog or smelled bad because he was different (I know she never sniffed a white person), Arnold just shrugs it off and doubts his grandmother’s wise words. Not me I was furious! I could have punched Penelope, but I just needed to read on and move on like Junior. That is what this book did to me. I was angry for Arnold with all the injustices in his life. I was sad for Arnold with all the tragedies in his life (his grandmother was killed by a drunk Indian, his sister dies while passed out in a fire, and so much more tragedy). And yet Arnold kept putting one foot in front of the other and overcame his often times unfortunate life situation of having almost nothing and yet knowing that he had so much from his life situation. That is Arnold Spirit Jr. He is a spirit of so much goodness and righteousness that one gets just drawn up in his sense of decency. The issues of the Native Americans brought up in this novel are so regrettable and lamentable, but Arnold’s spirit is just too good to bring down. I cannot say enough about all the impressions this book has left on me. The humor is hilarious, the cartoons are laugh out loud funny, and the narrative is unforgettable. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is heartbreaking, heartwarming, and uplifting all rolled into one. This book should be read by all and then maybe things would change for the better for all.

· Professional Review:

The line between dramatic monologue, verse novel, and standup comedy gets unequivocally -- and hilariously and triumphantly -- bent in this novel about coming of age on the rez. Urged on by a math teacher whose nose he has just broken, Junior, fourteen, decides to make the iffy commute from his Spokane Indian reservation to attend high school in Reardan, a small town twenty miles away. He's tired of his impoverished circumstances ("Adam and Eve covered their privates with fig leaves; the first Indians covered their privates with their tiny hands"), but while he hopes his new school will offer him a better education, he knows the odds aren't exactly with him: "What was I doing at Reardan, whose mascot was an Indian, thereby making me the only other Indian in town?" But he makes friends (most notably the class dork Gordy), gets a girlfriend, and even (though short, nearsighted, and slightly disabled from birth defects) lands a spot on the varsity basketball team, which inevitably leads to a showdown with his own home team, led by his former best friend Rowdy. Junior's narration is intensely alive and rat-a-tat-tat with short paragraphs and one-liners ("If God hadn't wanted us to masturbate, then God wouldn't have given us thumbs"). The dominant mode of the novel is comic, even though there's plenty of sadness, as when Junior's sister manages to shake off depression long enough to elope -- only to die, passed out from drinking, in a fire. Junior's spirit, though, is unquenchable, and his style inimitable, not least in the take-no-prisoners cartoons he draws (as expertly depicted by comics artist Forney) from his bicultural experience.

R., S. (2007). The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Horn Book Magazine, 83(5), 563-564.

· Library Uses:

In the library there will be two stations where students could pick and choose which art and writing activity they want to work on.

1. Create a character biography of Junior. This will include a visual and written character map that shows and explains the components of Junior’s life, including the influences working on the inside and the influences that effect Junior on the outside.

2. On page 11, Junior writes that his parents could have been somebody different because they had dreams when they were young. “But they never got the chance to be anything because nobody paid attention to their dreams.” Junior also draws his parents on page 12 as they would be if their dreams had come true.

Think of someone you know who might have been someone different if they had followed their dream.

It does not have to be sad. Explain how President George W. Bush wanted to be a rancher, but instead followed in his father’s footsteps and became President of the United States.

Questions to be answered along with a drawing modeled after page 12:

            1. Why did this person give up on their dream?

            2. What stopped this person from following their dream?

For either assignment, the students need to include a drawing and a short paper no longer than one page. Tomorrow the students will post their finished products around the library and the students will have gallery walk to view each other’s work.

Module 9: This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness

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· Book Summary:

This Is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness by Joyce Sidman is a book of poems by the sixth graders in Mrs. Merz’s class. The assignment started as poems of apology modeled after the William Carlos Williams’s poem “This Is Just to Say” where the poet apologies for eating plums in the icebox, but the apology does not sound so heartfelt. The book is in two sections, part one is apologies and part two is responses. The students in this sixth grade class liked their poems so much they decided to put the poems all together in a book. When the book was completed, the students now thought it would be a good idea to send the poems to the person or people they apologized to and have that person write a poem in return. The sixth grade students did get most response poems back but a few had to be improvised by the students themselves. Some of  the original apology poems just like William Carlos Williams’s are not very sincere, and the recipients of the apology poems too at times are not very forgiving. Throughout the book of poems, it is evident that the apologizer and the recipient of the apology have a relationship, whether good, bad, or indifferent. This book is a wonderful book of poetry that is straightforward,  uncomplicated, and so real.

· APA Reference of Book:

Sidman, J. (2007). This is just to say: Poems of apology and forgiveness. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

· Impressions:

I read the front sleeve of the book to decipher what the title, This Is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness, meant. The introduction was also very helpful and so I decided to read the poems together, the apology first followed by the response. I next read William Carlos Williams’s poem “This Is Just to Say” and found out he is apologizing for eating all the plums in the refrigerator but is not very sincere in his apology. It was funny with his added comments after his apology saying the plums were delicious, sweet, and so cold. Not exactly an act of contrition. The first student apology is to the office lady, Mrs. Garcia (I think we all have a Mrs. Garcia in our offices) from Thomas for eating the jelly doughnuts in the teacher’s lounge. Like William Carlos William, Thomas is just as apologetic (not) for the delicious, so sweet,  and so gloppy confections. Mrs. Garcia, in her response poem, knows it is he who is taking the doughnuts and forgives Thomas his transgressions, but will have to call his mother. Just too funny! The poems continue this way with truly heartfelt apologies from Carmen to Mrs. Merz for her choice of wardrobe, and Mrs. Merz’s response in a haiku. Reuben and Kyle both apologize to each other for their ruthlessness during dodge ball and they respond together to each other in a poem in two voices. The poems and responses bond the two, the apologizers and the responders, together in such a way that it gives the reader a glimpse into life like nothing else it seems. Alyssa is so pained by how she hurt her sister Carrie, the pain in her poem is evident. Yet Carrie writes a “Roses are Red” poem back to Alyssa and Carrie definitely does not forgive Alyssa. Some poems are just hilarious while others are painful to finish reading. Jewel writes to her father for forgiveness and in her apology poem it is clear she has nothing to apologize for. In the response poem, Jewel writes again saying her father did write back but she sums his letter up for the reader. If Jewel’s first poem was not hard on the reader’s heart, the second poem will just tear it to shreds. Overall the poems, both the apology and response, are very true to life and uplifting. I was not able to read this book in one sitting. It was too hard at times to see how our children view the world they live in. I realize this is a book of fiction and is from Joyce Sidman’s imagination, yet the situations presented in the poems are very realistic.

· Professional Review:

Every school should purchase a copy of this book of poetic apologies and responses. The title poem by William Carlos Williams sets the tone. Sidman sought help in writing a poem to her mother from a group of fourth graders in one of her writing workshops, which became the impetus for this book. Zagarenski uses typical schoolchildren materials as a background for her colorful, whimsical drawings that brighten the pages of this book. She captures the essence of childhood on each page. The poems reflect different stages of resolution; some apologies are sincere, others not. Some of the responses are more forgiving than others. Some of the poems are humorous, some sad, and some of the responses are unexpected. The poems that touched my heart the most were "It Was Quiet" by Tenzin, who described the death of her beloved dog Einstein, and "Next Time," Jewel's poem to her dad who had abandoned her several times. Lessons about accepting responsibility, seeking forgiveness, and righting wrongs are all part of the fabric of this book. Each school library could benefit from adding this wonderful book of poems to its collection. Recommended. Susie Nightingale, Library Media Specialist, Santa Fe Trail Junior High School, Olathe, Kansas

Nightingale, S. (2007). This Is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness. Library Media Connection, 26(3), 88-89.

· Library Uses:

Apology Poems:

Have students think about what they could apologize for. Maybe something they really are not so sorry about. Discuss the William Carlos Williams poem and what they think about his apology.

Discuss with the students what you may want to apologize for and have the student help you write your apology poem just like Mrs. Metz wrote a poem to her mother. Remind student to include the five senses in the poem.

Now have students think about their apology poem. Make sure the poet makes the reader understand what the write did, how they feel, and five senses details also. If the students want they may take the position of another like the hamster on page 37.

Response Poems:

If the students can have them give their apology poems to the person wronged and ask if they will write back.

If that person does not write back the writer can them write either a poem from that person’s viewpoint or what that person said to the poet.

Make a class book of the collection of apology and response poems.

Module 8: Ace Lacewing: Bad Bugs Are My Business

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· Book Summary:

Ace Lacewing, Bug Detective: Bad Bugs Are My Business by David Biedrzycki is another case for Ace to solve. This time Scratch Murphy has been robbed! As he, Scratch, was getting all his dough ready to pay his bank loan back to Mr. Hiss, the roach, someone conked him on the head and gave him a huge lump between his antennas. Now Scratch seeks help from Ace Lacewing, Xerces - his girl, and Zito - the Police Sergeant. After hearing Scratch Murphy’s events of his tragic misfortune, the trio ventures into Motham City to question likely suspects that might have pulled off this caper. First on the list is Mr. Hiss, the bank manager who suddenly came into some money by accident. Next to question was the head of the carpenter ants about the toolbox that hit Scratch on the head. Bo Weevil was visited next at his home as he raised his little boll weevils. With no luck finding the dough, the three all travel to Scratch’s Six Legs Park for clues about the missing money. The amusement park proves to be a wealth of clues and finally the culprit is there and (almost) caught stuffed handed.  

· APA Reference of Book:

Biedrzycki, D. (2009). Ace Lacewing, bug detective: Bad bugs are my business. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.

· Impressions:

Not being a bug person, I was not attracted or enticed with the cutesy looking bugs in the book. I opened the book and then saw a map of a Motham the city. Now I was really in trouble. Most of the bugs I recognized, but some were new. Hmm, this could be interesting I thought. I closed the book. I returned to the book and studied the map more without going any further. I was curious to see where Six Legs Park was after I read the front book sleeve. How did this park fit into Motham City? Well I turned the page and was instantly captivated by the cutesy looking bugs going to the amusement park. The caterpillar buses lined up in front of the park were so true to life, literally. The bug families holding hands and pushing baby buggies. Too Cute! I read on. They had me at posters to read on the building’s walls and neon signs all leading to the “Fly Thru” service at Ace’s. I could not solve the mystery (but I am normally bad at solving any mystery). First I thought the girlfriend was certainly fooling around and with Scratch’s own twin! Then I felt sorry for her, because I did guess the fur coat was for Scratch. But for the life of me I could not figure out who did it. The illustrations were just delightful and the narrative drew the reader back into an old time caper just like Philip Marlowe, Dick Tracy,  or the detectives of Dragnet. Just using the word “caper” brings vivid memories of days gone by, simply like this book does.

· Professional Review:

Gr 2-4 -Ace Lacewing is back to solve another mystery. Scratch Murphy, the owner of Six Legs Park, is knocked unconscious by a falling toolbox-presumably the property of a disgruntled carpenter ant-and wakes to find his flea bag empty and his money gone. Ace discovers that his client has a lot of enemies, including a fly-by-night roach in the banking business; Scratch's twin brother, Scritch; and a weevil with over-the-top parenting skills. Ace's blue-eyed gal Xerces and Police Sergeant Zito "The Mosquito" are with him every step of the way. When the solution hits Ace "like a flyswatter," a run for the money ensues through the Termite Tower of Terror, Anteater Falls, and House of Mirrors. Ace's first-person narration and snappy dialogue are true to the hard-boiled detective genre, as is the cast of characters. The illustrations, done in pencil and digitally colored, fairly glow. The many insect references ("Flypaper Awareness Week" and "Keep Your Antennae and Legs Inside Ride") in the colorful spreads are a true delight. Mystery fans and insect enthusiasts will enjoy a one-on-one reading with plenty of time to savor the clever wordplay and insect-related details. They will also want to find Ace's first adventure, Ace Lacewing, Bug Detective (Charlesbridge, 2005).

Smith, M. J. (2009). Ace Lacewing, bug detective: Bad bugs are my business. School Library Journal, 55(7), 61.

· Library Uses:

In the library, the students will each pick a bug from the map of Motham City. There will be overlap of students per bug. The students will find websites and books about their bugs. They will create a bug museum with a pictorial of their bug and facts on the diagram. This display will be the presentation of the month for the library.

Module 7: Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down

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· Book Summary:

Sit In: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney is the story of how four young African American men stood up to injustices by sitting down. This story is a true story of these four men; David, Joseph, Franklin, and Ezell, who sat at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina on February 1, 1960 and asked for a doughnut and coffee, with cream on the side. Many public places in the United States at this time were still segregated and did not allow people of color to enter or purchase goods from these segregated establishments. The four young men were upset and frustrated by segregation and decided to protest peacefully. This era was an era where many protested and fought against the injustices and indignities of the separation of the races. It was also during this time that Martin Luther King, Jr. was preaching for peaceful protest and fighting with love not hate. This time was known as the Civil Rights Movement. It took many sit ins and many years to have laws passed to desegregate and integrate the whites only establishments, but laws were signed into the legislation. And the Greensboro Four did get served their doughnuts and coffee with cream on the side at the Woolworth’s lunch counter eventually. Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro was desegregated in July of 1960. This book was published for the 50^th anniversary in remembrance of that moment in history.

· APA Reference of Book:

Pinkney, A. D. (2010). Sit-in: How four friends stood up by sitting down. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

· Impressions:

The book was hard to read because of the injustices done to these four young men and to a whole nation of people of color. The pictures of the workers not even looking at the men at the counter were heart breaking and so sad. Some of the workers serving the meals to the white people were people of color. How could they be servers but not be served? At the time of the Civil Rights Movement, I was young but not too young to forget, especially being a person of color. Not African American, but Mexican American. The Greensboro Four took a very dangerous step in opposing the “Whites Only” sign. The story hits home in many ways and yet it seems like we are not done in accepting people of all colors. At first glance the illustrations were weird to view in my opinion. How was I supposed to look at swirls and squiggly lines? As one reads the narrative, the images appear to come into focus in one’s heart. The look of quiet resistance on the Greensboro Four is priceless. You can feel their fear and resolve. That is what these illustrations make the reader feel. The open arms of Ella Baker, the anger in the manager at Woolworth’s, the police officer’s look of confusion, and the smiles at last on the four young men at the Woolworth’s lunch counter.

The carefully chosen words leave no room for misinterpretation. These were times of injustices and evils in America. Yet the words are also of hope and tomorrows. That was my impression as the students sat at the lunch counter and “studied for tomorrow’s test” because they did not “need to read the menu.” Such a sad time for America, yet a time of awakening and righteousness.

· Professional Review:

Gr 3-6-- Through effectively chosen words, Andrea Pinkney brings understanding and meaning to what four black college students accomplished on February 1, 1960, by sitting down at a Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, NC. Her repeated phrase, "Their order was simple. A doughnut and coffee with cream on the side," along with other food metaphors, effectively emphasizes the men's determination to undo the injustices of segregation in a peaceful protest, which eventually led up to the 1966 Supreme Court ruling against racial discrimination. With swirling swabs of color that masterfully intertwine with sometimes thin, sometimes thick lines, Brian Pinkney cleverly centers the action and brings immediacy to the pages. Both the words and the art offer many opportunities for discussion. The book concludes with a civil rights time line and an update on the aftermath of the lunch-counter struggle.

Elleman, B. (2010). Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down. School Library Journal, 56(4), 148.

The latest collaboration by this husband-and-wife team (the Caldecott Honor book Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra) recreates the renowned 1960 sit-in staged by four black college students at a Greensboro "whites only" lunch counter. The narrative incorporates a steady stream of food metaphors, noting that the students ignored the law's "recipe" for segregation ("a bitter mix") replacing it the "new brew" of integration. Unfortunately, this device is more trite than moving ("Their order was simple: A double dose of peace, with nonviolence on the side") and, at times, can come across as glib. Brief quotations by Martin Luther King Jr. appear in large, blocky text, emphasizing his influence on the actions of this quartet as well as those who followed their lead, staging sit-ins across the South. Brian Pinkney's sinuous watercolor and ink art conveys the solidity and determination of the activists as well as a building energy that grew out of their act of civil disobedience. A succinct civil rights time line and additional facts and suggested reading about the topic round out this account. Ages 6-up.

Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down. (2010). Publishers Weekly, 257(6), 50.

· Library Uses:

After reading the book Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down read and display the Civil Rights timeline in the back of the book. Using this timeline pair students in groups of two to research the events on the timeline.

Have the students use the 5Ws and 1H to research their date in the Civil Rights Movement.

Who, what, where, when, why, and how. They should organize their notes using the six topics and Cornell notes.

When all have researched their event, the students will create a PowToon, Animoto, or Prezi presentation. The librarian will decide which one presentation software all students will utilized to produce a digital timeline to present to parents on parent night or classes as they come to the library.