never come across a narrator quite like Arthur Spirit. "Junior" as he's known on the rez, has all the characteristics of a Class A loser - he stutters, lisps, wears thick glasses, sucks at basketball, and cries a little more than is safe for a 14-year-old boy. He gets beat up. A lot. Luckily for Junior, his best friend is the toughest kid around. Still, life on the rez isn't exactly easy for Junior or anyone else. Yeah, there's a casino nearby, but it's not making money for the common Indian (clarification: Alexie uses the term "Indian" constantly; he never uses "Native American," so I'm going to risk being politically incorrect and follow his lead) who still struggles against poverty, alcoholism, and an inability to get ahead.

So, Junior draws cartoons. He draws because "I feel like it might be my only real chance to escape the reservation. I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats" (5). As Junior explains the world to himself, he suddenly realizes that he can better himself. Just because he lives within five miles of where he, his parents, and his grandmother were born, doesn't mean he can't leave. Just because no one else in the tribe has ever done it, doesn't mean he can't. So, Junior begs his parents to let him go to Reardan, the high school in town where all the white farmers' kids - and no Indians - attend. The school is 22 miles away, meaning Junior has to walk when his parents don't have the money to pay for gas, but he's determined to get a good education. His decision brands Junior as an apple (red on the outside, white on the inside), a traitor to his tribe. In fact, it makes him feel like a traitor to himself:

"Traveling between Reardon and Wellpinit, between the little white town and the reservation, I always felt like a stranger. I was half Indian in one place and half white in the other. It was like being an Indian was my job, but it was only a part-time job. And it didn't pay well at all" (118).

Not surprisingly, Junior feels different and alone in the sea (or pond - Reardan's a small town) of white faces. He's surprised by the blatant racism of the town's adults, and the acceptance he eventually wins from their children. His year at Reardon is a time of discovery - he falls in love, proves himself on the basketball court, and discovers that friendship can endure despite great odds.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is an original, honest and engaging story. When I say honest, I mean it - Arnold discusses everything from masturbation to his parents' alcoholism to the irony of Indians celebrating Thanksgiving. The frankness is both disturbing and enlightening. Conversely, the thing I found most interesting about this story is the subtlety of the author's language use. Each sentence seems to have at least five meanings. Take this passage, for instance, in which Junior describes his dad's Christmas "sacrifice":

"Drunk for a week, my father must have really wanted to spend those last five dollars. Shoot, you can buy a bottle of the worst whiskey for five dollars. He could have spent that five bucks and stayed drunk for another day or two. But he saved it for me.

It was a beautiful and ugly thing" (151).

The book is full of such passages, which makes the story so much more meaningful than it appears to be on the surface.

I found the discussion of racism against Indians fascinating. This book is set in Washington State, where I grew up (although I lived in the Western, not Eastern part of the state), and I don't remember this kind of prejudice against Native Americans. Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, also set in Washington, brings up similar issues. I remember feeling miffed when my Indian buddy Leon got 2 weeks off school for fishing season, but that's the only time I ever had a negative feeling about him (until he grew up and became a small town gang banger, but that's another story ...) or other Indians at our school. I guess I was just shocked that the kind of racism Alexie describes actually happens.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is one book that earns the hype it has generated. It's brilliant, from Junior's voice (authentic, honest) to the cartoons "taped" into his diary (witty), to its statements on Indian culture and prejudice (eye-opening) - it's simply unforgettable.

Grade: A

(Image from Ursula K. Le Guin's official website)

Gifts concerns the Uplanders, a group of people who live high in the hills, ekeing out a living on their meager farms. It's a hardscrabble life they lead, farming the poor land and protecting their livestock from thieves in neighboring domains. Still, the Uplanders have one thing that makes them unique - their gifts. Some are able to communicate with animals, others have exacting skill with knives, still others have the power to twist a man's body into unnatural and excruciatingly painful shapes. While these "gifts" are generally considered to be blessings - they help feed, defend and protect their masters - not everyone is delighted to have them.

Orrec and his best friend Gry are teenagers burdened by their powers. Gentle Gry can beckon animals with her mind, a talent that is revered by the region's hunters. Because she "saw as the mice saw, as the cat saw, as my mother saw, all at once" (56) her world is "unfathomably complex" (56). She detests bringing animals out of the hills to be torn by hunters' bows. Orrec's abilities are even more frightening. Because his father has the gift of "unmaking," he stands to inherit the same skill. The ability (Orrec's father can turn any man, animal or structure into mush) makes its bearer a protector of the people, a position Orrec also stands to inherit. He's excited to receive his gift, but when he sees the kind of destruction he is capable of, he is repulsed and terrified. To protect those around him, he blindfolds his eyes, believing he cannot "unmake" that which he cannot see. Together, Orrec and Gry navigate their harsh world, where refusing to use their gifts is as despicable as not having them at all.

The characters in this book are especially well-drawn. Orrec and Gry are unique individuals, but the questions they grapple with are typical of teenagers (and adults) of any time or place. At one point, Orrec thinks, "I had my eyes back, but what was I to do with them? What good were they, what good was I? Who are we now? Gry had asked. If I was not my father's son, who was I?" (259) Who hasn't asked these questions? Because of their self-doubt and their fierce desire to do right, I found the friends to be sympathetic and compelling characters. I think they will resound with kids and adults alike.

Le Guin's haunting, lyrical words give this book a dark tone. It's not a happy story, but it is engrossing. I didn't love it like I did Harry Potter or LOTR, but I enjoyed reading the book. Gifts is actually the first in the Annals of the Western Shore series. I can't tell if the story of Orrec and Gry will be continued in subsequent books. Since I'm anxious to know where their journey takes them, you can bet I'll be reading the rest of the novels. Le Guin has certainly earned my respect as a writer, and although I enjoyed Gifts, it lacked the wow factor for me. Don't fret, though, I'll be searching for it in more books by this fantasy queen.

...you're not going to believe the other things I forgot! Actually, it's just one thing, and I have a good excuse: There was a mixup on my insulin prescription, and I had to go without any insulin at all for almost 2 days while it got straightened out. Even after I got the liquid gold pulsing through my veins again, I was left with a ferocious headache and nausea. As a result, I spent most of the day laying on the couch while my 3-year-old trashed the house (I didn't think the mess could get any worse, but it did). At least I got a little reading done ... actually, a lot, as in a whole book. More on that in a minute ...

The thing I forgot to mention about Carpe Demon by Julie Kenner is the ad placement rampant in its pages. Sam Houston over at Book Chase mentioned this in a recent post and I've been thinking about the issue ever since. Maybe I would never have even noticed this if it wasn't for the recent chat about it on blogs, but Carpe Demon is chock-full of references to everything from Diet Coke to Clinique to Gap. Now, I know authors use pop culture to add realism to their books (because a book about a Demon-Hunting soccer mom is oh so believable), but I found the constant references distracting. Is Julie Kenner getting anything in return for these ads? Fifty percent off coupons at Gap, for instance?

I don't discuss "issues" very often, because I'm just not that much of a heavy thinker, but this issue intrigues me...

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Okay, I'm going to keep this review short, because it's probably not of a lot of interest to most of you. It is, however, of interest to me. Plus, I read it, so I have to review it. It's a weird compulsion.

My friend recommended some good adoption books to me, but I wasn't able to find any of the titles she suggested. Borders didn't have much in their Adoption section, but I did find The Ultimate Insider's Guide to Adoption by Elizabeth Swire Falker.

The "Insider" mentioned in the title is author Elizabeth Swire Falker, who is not only an adoptive mother, but also an adoption attorney. She walks prospective parents through the basics of both domestic and international adoption. The book is organized well, and very easy to read and understand. She apologizes more than once for the "dry" material, but really the book is very readable. Don't get me wrong - the writing is less than stellar, but it's not horrible either.

At this point, I don't know how relevant Falker's information is, but she seems well informed. The data in her book echoed what I have gleaned from websites, friends, and other adoption material. One third of the book is appendices of adoption agencies, lawyers, websites, etc. I haven't started checking them out yet, but I plan to. Anyway, I thought it was a good resource.

Does anyone have any other recommendations for adoption "how to" manuals or even fiction that talks about adoption? I'd love to hear about them.

Grade: B

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Okay, I feel like I have been rambling a lot in my recent posts. I'm going to quit while I'm ahead! For now, I'm going to be reading The Sister by Poppy Adams and Gifts by Ursula K. Le Guin. I'm especially excited about the Le Guin book - it looks good, and this author is new to me. Look for a review soon!