Alexie Blog

I can say, with confidence, that this is the first book I have ever read that had me trying desperately not to cry in the first ten pages. I feel like it is difficult for me to address many of the topics in the book with all that much validity. I am white. I did not grow up in poverty, at all. Nevertheless I did grow up, in some respects, so I can speak to what it is like to do that. Perhaps my favorite part of the book was how Junior approaches knowledge, literacy, and learning. He does it in a very frank way; he always maintains a unique view on the world that is always influenced by his age. As I said, I have had no experience with being locked in poverty, yet I think that Alexie does a superb job of communicating that way of life to people who don’t know what it is like.

My ninth grade literature teacher said that every book worth teaching has been blacklisted in at least one school district. He went on to say that this is because every book worth teaching, deals with subjects that make people uncomfortable. Diary certainly covers subjects that make people uncomfortable, and that is the key reason amongst a multitude of why I think it is worth teaching. Alexie faces topics like alcoholism, sexuality, and prejudice with a perfectly balanced voice of sage and juvenile.

It took me a while to get used to the writing style and I did have to think on whether this was the best model to present to students for their own writing. I’m still not sure, but I think the style makes the text all the more accessible to students and whatever detriment it may produce is far outweighed by the benefits inherent to the text. Furthermore, because the book presents complex issues while at the same time delivering it’s views in such language it can be a perfect book to get kids interested in literature and see what it’s all about.