Convincing a young person to read Alexie's novel

The novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, is about a boy named Junior and his life on and off an Indian rez (reservation). To me, many young people today would be able to relate to Junior. He often finds himself just trying to fit in with his peers, but still feels like an outsider. I find that many young people these days sometimes have a tough time trying to fit in with the groups around them and often are left out. Junior would appeal to these kinds of people because he explains how he gets around being left out. Junior likes to play sports, which is a great way to get to know people that are your teammates. In the book, Junior moves to a new school and has to recreate new friendships with people. He does this by talking to people and learning things about them and finding a connection between himself and that person. I feel that young people that are struggling to fit in could learn from what Junior does and apply it to their own lives. There are also many other things that Junior does to appeal to young people.

Throughout the book Junior likes to talk about things like masturbation and girls. He is a young guy going through puberty and this is relatable to all young people that may be going through puberty as well. He talks about masturbation like it is an Olympic sport, which is very comical and enjoyable to read. This could appeal to a young person who might have some worries about experimenting with such things. Also, Junior likes to talk about girls and how he handles interacting with them. At his new school where he really doesn't fit in, he manages to find himself a girlfriend (Penelope). The way that he approaches Penelope and handles his interactions with her could give young people some idea on how to interact with someone of the opposite sex. There are many things throughout the book that Junior does that can be related to mostly by younger people which makes this book a good read for them.