Banned books does not mean bad books

Banned books are terrible, off limits, and down right should not be read—ever. Or so you were told in high school. I recently read Sherman Alexie’s novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (2007).” If you type “Banned Books” into the Google search engine, this is the first book that pops up. So what’s so wrong with it? Why has it been banned?
Alexie is a Native American author who is known for writing about his culture. He tackles the difficult questions and assumptions related to his culture head-on. Topics such as disabilities, suicide, hope, drunkenness, and privilege are all part of his young adult novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.”
In this novel readers learn about a boy named Junior. He isn’t like the other Native American kids because he was born with a disability, hydrocephalus, or as he defines it “water on the brain.” But, Junior is a smart kid and extremely talented when it comes to the sport of basketball. He realizes early on in the novel that in order for him to have any hope of a good future he must go to school off of the reservation. So, Junior transfers to an all-white farm-town school named Reardan, which is about 30 miles away. Ironically, the only other Indian in sight is the school’s mascot with red skin, a big nose, and a feathered headband.
Just because Junior left the reservation on the weekdays didn’t make life easier. Teachers envied his knowledge and almost feared being wrong by him. It was difficult for him to make any friends because he was labeled as “different.” He had trouble making it to school every day and often times had to walk the 30 miles. Whether it was due to a funeral, a drunken father who would rather spend his money gambling at a slot machine, or bad luck, he missed a lot of school.
Junior’s one friend, Rowdy, from the reservation abandons him and everyone else from the reservation who never really cared about him to begin with, turned their backs on him. The only people left on the reservation to care about him are his family members. He struggles to find his identity like most young adults in high school. At Reardan High School, he is half-Indian, but on the reservation he is considered half-white.
He also struggles with the death of his father’s best friend and other family members. At a young age he has attended 42 funerals, basically surrounding himself with death and an emotional state of grief. A large number of these deaths are caused by suicide or drunkenness. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Native Americans have the second highest rate of suicides per year. This is portrayed in this novel and isn’t sugar coated. But should it be? Does this make this book ban-worthy?
Junior believed that hope was found somewhere off of the reservation. He knew, that if he didn’t make it in the white school he’d end up a gambling drunk like his father and die without accomplishing his dreams.
When I finished reading this emotional story, I couldn’t help but ask myself why it would be banned from several high schools throughout the nation. When it comes down to it, even though some parts of this story are fictional, a lot of it is based on Alexie’s life. Since when did schools feel obligated to ban books about different cultures? Why can’t students pick it up to get a better sense of what life is like on the reservation? Wouldn’t educating ourselves on different cultures make us better-equipped citizens for communicating with one another?
If you ask me, learning comes from reading. One of the greatest things about literature is the fact that we can learn about different people and cultures. Without allowing books like these into classrooms, it’s hard for students to educate themselves while also being entertained. This novel does just that. So feel free to pick up those banned books and read whether you are in high school, college, or out in the “real world.” I promise they won’t bite.