I saw this video over at bookshelves of doom a while back, and I knew I just had to read Sherman Alexie’s book (go take 10 minutes and watch it).

Done watching? Good. There was a quote on the back by Chris Crutcher that pretty much summed up my reaction to this book: “I know Sherman Alexie is on his game when I’m reading his book, laughing my a** off while my heart is breaking. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian captivates absolutely.”

So true.

Junior is a Spokane Indian, living in Wellpinit on the rez and pretty much the lowest guy around. He gets picked on, beat up, called names… all because he was born with medical problems. But when he discovers his mom’s name in a geometry book (it’s not anything compromising; I wondered, too), he realized he needed a change. He transferred to the nearby (well, 22 miles) town of Rearden to go to high school. This book is the diary of his freshman year and all of it’s trials and triumphs.

The beauty of Alexie’s writing is that he can take the most depressing, pathetic person and situation and make you laugh. It’s actually a joyful book, a hopeful book. But I was depressed, too: so much poverty, so much alcohol, so much death. And yet, Junior is such a likable guy, a good kid, that you can’t help but root for him to rise above his situation. It’s funny and heartbreaking, pathetic and hopeful, depressing and inspiring all at the same time. That, in my book, is amazing writing.

I won’t be going around recommending this to everyone I know, though. It’s definitely for older kids — it’s too old for M — and it’s a bit vulgar. But then, it’s a 14-year-old boy who happens to be surrounded by death, alcohol, abuse, poverty and, well, high school. I don’t think I was really expecting it to be squeaky clean. Still, if you can stomach all that in addition to a few cuss words, then this book is really really worth your time.

My favorite quote is one that was in the video (but there are many others): “Every book is a mystery. And if you read all the books ever written it’s like you’ve read one giant mystery. And no matter how much you learn, you just keep on learning there is so much more you need to learn.”

Ain’t that the truth.