In honor of Banned Books Week, this week we’ll each have an extra post featuring a challenged/banned book we’ve enjoyed. While preparing my post, I found ALA’s Virtual Read-Out. Librarians, teachers, authors and others contribute videos of themselves reading portions of banned/challenged books. Here is one example: Jason Reynolds shares a passage from Black Boy, a book he read as a teen.
If you’re interested in participating in the Virtual Read-Out, instructions are posted here.
I chose to feature The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie. It’s one of my all-time favorite books and has been repeatedly challenged.
Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author’s own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character’s art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.
With a forward by Markus Zusak, interviews with Sherman Alexie and Ellen Forney, and four-color interior art throughout, this edition is perfect for fans and collectors alike. — Cover image and summary via Goodreads
In the following video, Sherman Alexie discusses the banning of books.
What are some of your favorite banned or challenged books?
It is a wonderful, yet sad, story. I’ve read it with a group of students, and other colleagues have too. It offers such a broad variety of conversation, about many adolescents growing up, about the challenges of growing up Native American and joining another group. I’m glad you celebrated it today, Crystal!