---By Bruce Barcott
Published: November 11, 2007
The New York Times
“There is something in the force of Alexie's description that captures your heart, even while some of his raunchiest statements can turn your stomach. Boys of this age will be boys of this age, regardless of race or economic class. There is much to recommend here, but one word of warning: sex and violence rear their ugly heads as much as deep and unabiding sorrow and great flowering words of encouragement. This is a book that delves into every possible aspect of one boy's adolescent wanderings. The fact that Alexie actually encountered such incidents in real life only serves to make the narrative that much more imposing. Knowing that he fought a successful fight against all the things that oppressed him as a kid gives THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN even greater resonance. Hope is indeed the thing with feathers.”
--- Reviewed by Jana Siciliano
Teenreads.com
“A Native American equivalent of Angela’s Ashes, a coming-of-age story so well observed that its very rootedness in one specific culture is also what lends it universality, and so emotionally honest that the humor almost always proves painful…Jazzy syntax and [Ellen] Forney’s witty cartoons…transmute despair into dark humor; Alexie’s no-holds-barred jokes have the effect of throwing the seriousness of his themes into high relief.”
---Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)
“I know Sherman Alexie is on his game when I’m reading his book, laughing my ass off while my heart is breaking. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian captivates absolutely.”
---Chris Crutcher, author of Deadline
