[LM_NET] HIT: Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian--Book Discussion with Boys

[Shonda Brisco <sbrisco@GMAIL.COM>]

Thanks to everyone who provided your great ideas for ways to use
Sherman Alexie's (sigh) book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a
Part-Time Indian" with a group of high school boys.  Our group met
last week and the youth librarian (who had received a grant from ALA
to provide this series of book discussions for disadvantaged youth)
provided pizza, drinks, and dessert pizza for the 14 boys who
attended.  The group was very talkative with definite opinions about
the book's value to libraries and the need for others to read about
guys who led lives like their own.  (This group of boys are wards of
the state of Oklahoma due to parental abuse, drugs, violence, etc.
Their ages ranged from 13-16 but within their young lives, these
"children" had seen more violence, hatred, and destruction than anyone
should at that age.)

Upon arriving at the library, I was verbally attacked (they didn't
know who I was or why I was there), but by the time the discussion was
over, I had several boys thanking me for coming, shaking my hand,
smiling, and excitedly leaving with another book that they will be
discussing next month (I won't be leading this discussion).  Imagine,
if you will, the students from those "teacher movies" (Dangerous
Minds, Stand and Deliver, Ron Clark Story)---- wild, loud, verbally
abusive and unruly.  Then imagine sharing the fact that Sherman
Alexie's book was loosely based upon his own life...and questions such
as: "Has anyone ever treated you like an outsider?"  "How did you
feel?"  The boys definitely made discussing the book's character very
easy...and I was extremely impressed with the fact that once we began
talking, several of the boys brought to the discussion concepts that
can only be attributed to a high school English teacher
somewhere....for example, one boy asked, "What do you think the horse
in the pond symbolized?"  "I saw foreshadowing in...."  The terms
"symbolized" ..."foreshadowing"...and others, made me smile.  I
immediately applauded their application of these terms to a discussion
outside of the classroom and told them that I would be contacting
their high school principal and the English teacher to let them know
how impressed I was with their knowledge and appropriate use of these
elements in this setting.  I hope these educators realize how
important it was to these young men to hear that they had done exactly
what every teacher wants them to do....take the information that they
have learned in the classroom and apply it to their everyday lives!
How exciting that potential is to see in this group!

Overall, I saw a group of young men who needed a LOT of positive
strokes for what they were doing well...they are definitely "rough
around the edges" but they are a inspiration to those teachers /
librarians who love a challenge!  I will most likely stay in-touch
with this group only because I think they need someone who sees their
potential rather than be afraid of their behavior.  This is a group of
"babies" in many ways, and I think with some continual work with
individuals such as those at the Boys Ranch and the public library
that serves them, I hope that they can be rescued from a very
destructive life that might otherwise be their future.

Thanks, also, to all of those librarians who are working with these
exact same young people in their schools.  They are definitely a
challenge but once those "hard exteriors" are cracked a bit, I hope
that you are also able to share your hope and dreams for a wonderful
life for them through the use of books that help them to better
understand their world.  I am still inspired by the experience and
those who work with this group daily.

Here is my original question and your responses.  Thanks again for
helping me with this project!
************************************************************************************************************************************

I will be guiding a book discussion for Sherman Alexie's book, "The
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" with a group of boys
(grades 9-12) next week.  I absolutely LOVE this book...and I think
I'm in love with Sherman Alexie (but that's another
issue...*wink*)....anyway.... I was wondering
if any of you might have some great ideas for sharing this book with
this group of young men? My group is considered "troubled youth" but
they are SO excited about
the book (and so am I), so I'd love to really provide some great
ideas, suggestions for additional readings, or other unique ideas to
keep them involved in reading.

If you have any ideas, suggestions, or possible thoughts on this,
please let me know.  I have two or three book discussion guides
already but I guess I'm wanting to
extend this a bit and have something more tangible or perhaps
emotionally memorable for them to take back.  Let me know what you
think and I'll share the responses on
the list.  (I'm also hoping to take some photos, so I'll post those on
my wiki after the book discussion!)

***********************

Since our young hero is a doodler/cartoonist you might want to show
the kids this website:
http://www.imaginationcubed.com/

You can record your mouse movements as you draw a picture, save it,
and then replay the recording to see the drawing recreated for you.
You can email the link to friends and when they click on the link they
see the drawing come to life. It's a lot of fun and might help connect
your readers to the character.

****

Will the boys have access to the audio version? Alexie does his own
reading and I'm sure just hearing even a portion of the book would be
great for them.

****

You might want to buy or borrow the audiobook and let the
boys listen to a scene or two in Alexie's own voice.

Alexie's Flight has a lot of violence, but the main character is a very
troubled youth, and things do get resolved nicely -- he makes the right
decision and learns to accept help and love. The boys would also learn
some history. It's an amazing and very powerful read.

Two other books my students have loved this year are Trigger by Vaught
and Thirteen Reasons Why by Asher. Both deal with suicide. Trigger has a
boy returning to school for the first time with no memory of why he
tried to kill himself and no idea why everyone is angry at him. Thirteen
reasons why has a girl sending audiotapes (after her death) to the 13
people she blames for causing her to kill herself.

I love Kevin Brooks' books too -- my big Alexie reader at school just
returned Martyn Pig saying it was the best mystery he ever read. Inside
Out by Trueman might be another possibility. I haven't read it, but the
premise might be very thought-provoking for your students -- people
committing a crime take a hostage who is mentally ill and much more than
they bargained for.

********

My book club is discussing this book next week, too.  The questions I
have probably aren't markedly different from what you have ... but one
thing I'm going to try as an ice-breaker/opener:  Playing a few rounds
of Pictionary.

******

I would suggest reading Flight, also by Alexie.  Our high school
juniors loved that even more.  We used them both in a unit about white
privilege in conjunction with information about discrimination against
all people of color.

**********

I had students make a "doodle" board for a novel. It is a one picture
for each chapter on poster board. I usually get about three doodle
boards from a large sheet of poster board. They divide the board
anyway they want to seperate each chapter. The whole board must be
filled in with color, no white spaces. In addition to this title, my
children love the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series (New Book
coming out May 1), Eragon, and Harry Potter. Percy is the best for
connecting to troubled kids. Percy is diagnosed with adhd, so kids can
relate to consistantly getting in trouble.

*******

I absolutely loved this book as well. I did a book trailer on it that
I shared with students as an example. They then went on to create book
trailers of the books they were reading. Perhaps you could have your
students do some sort of project that asks them to represent what they
see as the important aspects of the book, or perhaps one of them. For
example, students could do a video or presentation on the dangers of
gambling. Or you could have a debate about whether or not the
character should have left the reservation. There are just so many
things in this book. Maybe you could even have a powwow. As a further
reading I would suggest "Trouble" by Gary Schmidt which deals with
racism between Cambodian immigrants in an upscale New England area. I
think you could tie it in nicely, but I also must warn you that
although it is a rich and compelling book, students think it starts
slowly.


To see my book trailer you can go to my web site:


http://web.me.com/marsharedd


Click on the book blog tab. The link to the trailer will be on the left.


***************


I love the Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian too. I would
also highly reccomend Touching Spirit Bearby Ben Mikaelsen. Sherman
Alexie has a great website at http://www.fallsapart.com/


*****




-- 
Shonda Brisco
Assistant Professor / Curriculum Materials Librarian
Mary L. Williams Curriculum Materials Library
001 Willard Hall
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK 74078
http://www.library.okstate.edu/cml/index.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://osulibrarian.wordpress.com/
http://www.osu-cml.wikispaces.com
sbrisco@gmail.com

http://okschoollibrarians.wikispaces.com
http://okschoollibrarians.ning.com/

"Digital Resources" columnist
School Library Journal

"Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money
will get you through times of no libraries." ~ Library Poster

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