Personal Response:
This book was very different from what I have been reading as of late. Which, as it always does, ended up be a good thing. It is definitely not a book I would find myself picking up in the store and thinking, “Hey I think this is a book I would enjoy”. However, as is often the case with recommendations it gave me the opportunity to explore a genre and a story that I would often not give a second glance.
With that said, the book grabbed me from the onset. It was the way the author was able to speak about serious topics while still keeping his sense of humor. I think what struck me the most was the way that he was able to deal with the issue of poverty. At my church I am in charge of a community outreach program which deals with the rising rate of hunger in our church’s neighborhood. Once a month we give away free food (i.e. milk and fresh produce) to people who are not always able to afford those items throughout the month. While reading the text I found myself picturing the children that walk through the line at my church. Children that wake up on some mornings not knowing where they are going to get their next meal. Junior also talked about days not knowing if there was going to be food on the table, and going 36 hours without a meal. Junior was poor and was able to get free lunch at school, however, his pride was such that on the first day of school he still wanted to use his money to help pay for the lunch. There are many adults like Jr. that walk through our line at church. They know that the food is free for them, yet when they have money they are always giving us what they can. Pride plays a vital part in people’s self perception, and keeping it is a priority for many of them.
As a teacher I also liked the way that Alexie dealt with the role of the “loser” in the school. The fact that the main character, Junior, was that “loser” made the story all the more interesting. One thing that I have noticed in all of the schools that I have been in is that virtually all students find a niche. Whether it is a group of two or three or a group of twenty it seems that similar students find each other. I have taught freshman and I have seen the look in their eyes. That fear on the first day. “Who is going to be my friend?”, “Who am I going to eat lunch with?”. These are traumatic questions for young students. For a high school student it is all about who you know. We all need someone in our life, and that was the battle that Junior was fighting. He wanted a friend, and he even though he did not find many, he did find them. Even he dealt with a great deal of heartache and trauma, he friends and family were able to see him through.
With that said. I think the thing that kept me wanted to read is that even though he was dealing with this issues, he was able to keep the story light hearted. At times he had me wanting to reach out and give Junior a hug, but then a split second later he was able to make my laugh to myself. He was also able to do the opposite. He would give the reader and emotional high such as Junior getting his victory, then he would bring the reader back to reality by showing the rez team with their heads hung low and Junior feeling guilty. The way he was able to play with emotion and keep the reader on edge was a huge positive for me.
Critical Response:
I think that what makes this novel so memorable is the way that Alexie is able to relate to so many different readers with his story. While the main character is the school consummate “loser” I believe that he is also able to give a pretty accurate representation of different clichés in a school. Not only that, he does not make any group to be the “bad” group. At points Junior steps back and can see the good in everybody he encounters. Even though the reader sees the story unfold through the eyes of Junior they get a sense of what the other characters have to deal with.
Adolescent literature asks students to take on different perspectives for the students who are reading them. I believe that Alexie has written a novel that truly makes the reader do that. While it does this through the handling of the different clichés, more importantly it does it through the eyes of a Native American. I think that one lens that many students have never had the opportunity to see the world through is that of an Indian student. It puts a human face on a group of people many students have not knowingly come in contact with. It shows them the struggles that many Indian students face, and how while they are not the same struggles that they face they are still struggles that many students can relate to. They reason he is able to do all of this is because he can keep the reader interested in the story with his amazing sense of humor. The story is constantly engaging the reader with its emotional up and downs, and got even me to get drawn into the story and want to continue reading.
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