Arnold Spirit, Jr., or Junior as he’s known on the reservation, wants more out of life than to follow in his parents footsteps and remain a poor Spokane Indian on the reservation. He decides to switch to a white school off the “rez” but he quickly finds himself outcasted at both his new school and on the rez. His best friend, Rowdy, won’t talk to him anymore, he is booed and shunned at his old school during basketball games, and his sister moves to Montana to be with her new husband, so Junior makes light of the situation through his drawings. Although his life is never easy, Junior still has a way of laughing through it. Will Junior and Rowdy be friends again? Will he ever fit in...anywhere?
Here's a list of the awards this book has won:
National Book Award for Young People's Literature
American Indian Youth Literature Awards for Best Young Adult Book
Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction and Poetry
Odyssey Award for best audiobook for children or young adults
California Young Reader Medal
Here's an article that Sherman Alexie wrote regarding the censorship of his book (and all teen books, really): Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood
If you want to know more about Sherman Alexie and his books, his website is: http://fallsapart.com/
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