📚 Banned Book Spotlight: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

About the Author

Sherman Alexie is a Native American writer whose works often explore identity, culture, hardship, and humor. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is semi-autobiographical, giving readers insight into reservation life and the struggles faced by young people caught between two different worlds.

Story in Brief

The novel follows Junior (Arnold), a 14-year-old boy from the Spokane Indian Reservation. He’s smart, funny, and also dealing with big losses and systemic obstacles—poverty, alcoholism in his family, racism, and tough choices about where he belongs. When he decides to leave his reservation school to attend an all-white high school in a nearby town, he faces new kinds of bullying, isolation, and pressure—but also new friendships, growth, and hope.

Recent Challenges / Bans (2025 & Around)

In 2025, the Seaside School District in Oregon faced formal challenges by parents over this book being used in freshman English classes. The objections were about profanity, references to drugs and alcohol, and explicit content.

After review, the school board voted to continue using the book in the curriculum. The objection was reviewed via an advisory committee including parents and teachers.

Also in 2025, the West Ada School District in southwest Idaho reinstated the novel in its supplemental reading list—after having removed it previously over similar objections. Copies may have restrictions (e.g. parental permission) depending on school policy.

Why It’s Still Important

This book gives a voice to experiences often ignored: life on reservations, loss, identity conflict, and aspirations despite hardship. When it’s banned or challenged, not only is one story silenced, but students lose a chance to see people like themselves, to feel less alone, or to understand others different from them.