The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian has been at the center of many controversies due to the book's themes and content, as well as its target audience of young adults. The book has both fervent supporters and concerned protesters: "some people thought it was the greatest book ever, and some people thought it was the most perverted book ever," said Shawn Tobin, a superintendent of a Georgia school district.[44]
Censorship
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian was the most-challenged book in the United States from 2010 to 2019[5] and was named one of the top ten most challenged books in 2010 (2), 2011 (5), 2012 (2), 2013 (3), 2014 (1), 2017 (2), 2018 (9), 2020 (5),[4] and 2022.[45] The book has been challenged for the following reasons:[46][4]
- Acknowledging poverty, alcoholism, and sexuality
- Allegations of sexual misconduct by the author
- Offensive language/Profanity
- Cultural insensitivity
- Deemed anti-family
- Depictions of bullying
- Gambling
- Racism
- References to drugs, alcohol, and smoking
- Religious viewpoint (anti-Christian content)
- Sex education
- Sexual references
- Unsuited for age group
- Violence
Antioch Township, Illinois (2009)
Local parents caught wind of the book's references to alcoholism, sensitive cultural topics, and sexual innuendos: at the beginning of June, seven Antioch parents attended a 117th District School Board meeting to request that the book be removed from the curriculum.[47] However, the novel was not banned from Antioch High School's curriculum following the controversy. Instead, the English Department introduced an alternative option for summer reading—students who preferred to read John Hart's Down River were permitted to do so.[48]
Crook County, Oregon (2009)
In Prineville, Oregon one parent raised objections to the school board about how the book contains references to masturbation and is generally inappropriate. In response, the Crook County School District temporarily removed the book from classrooms. The removal was upheld, but the book remained available to students in school libraries.[48]
Stockton, Missouri (2010)
A parent complained to the Stockton School District Board about the violence, language, and sexual content. The board voted to ban the book from school libraries. The decision was voted upon multiple times, but the ban was ultimately upheld.[48]
Newcastle, Wyoming (2010)
In 2010, Wyoming's Newcastle Middle School attempted to include Diary in its 8th grade English curriculum. At first, the district allowed it under the premise that children who were not allowed to read it would bring a signed paper allowing them to read the alternate book Tangerine. About two weeks after the announcement was made to the 8th graders, the school board banned teaching it in a curriculum, but still allowed it in the library for those who wished to read it.[49]
Helena, Montana (2011)
In 2011, one parent in the Helena School District objected to the book's "obscene, vulgar, and pornographic language." However, the school district voted to retain the book in schools.[48]
Richland, Washington (2011)
In 2011, a 9th grade Language Arts teacher at the Richland Public High School piloted Diary in his curriculum, and with the help of his students, reported to the school's board on the inclusion of the book in a high school curriculum.[50] Parents of students in the class were notified ahead of time that the teacher was interested in the book; as a result, parents were able to opt their student out of reading the novel if they so chose.[50]
In June 2011, the school board voted 3–2 to remove the book from the school entirely. Board members had not read the book but cited the split Instructional Materials Committee vote as the reason to ban the novel.[50]
The board members later learned that some members of the Instructional Materials Committee had not read the book, and so the board members agreed to vote again, but read it for themselves before the vote.[51] On July 11, 2011, the school board voted 4–1 to reverse its earlier decision.[51]
Dade County, Georgia (2012)
In 2012, the book was removed from the Dade County school libraries and required high school reading lists due to complaints about "vulgarity, racism, and anti-Christian content."[48]
Mattapoisett, Massachusetts (2012)
In 2012 in the Old Rochester Regional Junior High School, the book was challenged as an 8th grade English assignment, but ultimately retained by the school.[48]
Union County, New Jersey (2012)
In 2012, the book was challenged in 9th grade English classes in Westfield High School for "very sensitive material in the book including excerpts on masturbation among other explicit sexual references, encouraging pornography, racism, religious irreverence, and strong language." However, the school board decided to retain the book as part of the curriculum.[48]
Yakima, Washington (2013)
Sherman Alexie's Diary was challenged in his home state of Washington, only a few hours drive away from where the semi-autobiographical work is set. The dispute over the book's appropriateness for high school students took place in the West Valley School District in 2013. Specifically, many parents claimed that the book contains inappropriate and sexual content and language that are unsuitable for high school students.[52]
As of now, there have been four official complaints about the book that have been recorded.[52] Resultantly, Alexie's book was removed from 10th-grade classes and made supplemental literature for 11th and 12th grades, instead of required reading.[52]
Queens, New York (2014)
A middle school in Queens removed Diary from required reading due to the references to masturbation, which the school considered inappropriate for middle schoolers.[48]
Billings, Montana (2014)
The book was challenged on the 10th grade reading list at Skyview High School, where a parent complained, "This book is, shockingly, written by a Native American who reinforces all the negative stereotypes of his people and does it from the crude, obscene, and unfiltered viewpoint of a 9th-grader growing up on the reservation." The book was not removed from the school list.[48]
Jefferson County, West Virginia (2013)
A Jefferson County parent complained about the novel's graphic nature, resulting in the book being pulled from all county schools.[48]
Sweet Home, Oregon (2014)
Some parents of students of a Sweet Home Junior High English class voiced concerns about the book's content, specifically the objectification of women and young girls. The concerns resulted in the book being officially challenged.[48]
West Ada School District, Idaho (2014)
In April 2014, Diary was pulled from the Meridian district's supplemental reading list after significant parental disapproval of the novel's subject matter.[53] The book had been a part of its curriculum since 2010. Students protested to remove the ban but were unsuccessful.[53]
According to Marshall University Libraries, in 2015 the text was banned from the Meridian (ID) school districts' required texts due to parents complaining that it "discusses masturbation, contains profanity, and has been viewed as anti-Christian."[54]
Brunswick, North Carolina (2014)
On July 1, 2014, a grandmother in Brunswick, North Carolina, filed a complaint against Diary at Cedar Grove Middle School. Two weeks later, the school's Media Advisory Committee met and unanimously agreed to keep the book in its curriculum because the committee saw the value in "the realistic depiction of bullying and racism, as well as a need for tolerance and awareness of cultural differences."[55] The grandmother, Frances Wood, appealed the decision, remaining adamant that "[t]his book is not morally acceptable… Everything in it is degrading. There's nothing uplifting in it."[56]
One year later, Wood challenged the book yet again, this time at West Brunswick High School. Wood lost this protest against the book when the principal of West Brunswick High School responded a few days later that the county school board's policy was that their decision on a book held for all schools in the county, and that those decisions could not be revisited for two years.[57]
Highland Park, Texas (2015)
In 2015, the superintendent of the Highland Park Independent School District suspended Diary from the school approved book list. The suspension was very brief, and the superintendent reinstated the book soon after.[48]
Hastings-On-Hudson, New York (2020)
In 2020, the book was assigned to an 8th grade English Language Arts class at Farragut Middle School. Upon a passage containing the word nigger and sexual intercourse with an animal being read aloud in class without adequate preparation by the teacher, it was reported that this caused "psychological harm" to an African American student and that members of the school community felt "uncomfortable and marginalized while reading and discussing this book." It was decided to immediately stop discussion of the book to prevent further harm. The book will be re-evaluated by the English department for future use.[58]
Defense of the novel
Alexie has defended the novel by emphasizing the positive learning opportunities readers gain from exposure to these harsh aspects of contemporary life. He describes his own experience of adults trying to hide and protect him from suffering and hardship:
"all during my childhood, would-be saviors tried to rescue my fellow tribal members. They wanted to rescue me. But, even then, I could only laugh at their platitudes. In those days, the cultural conservatives thought that KISS and Black Sabbath were going to impede my moral development. They wanted to protect me from sex when I had already been raped. They wanted to protect me from evil though a future serial killer had already abused me. They wanted me to profess my love for God without considering that I was the child and grandchild of men and women who'd been sexually and physically abused by generations of clergy."[59]
Alexie said that students were also able to connect his story to their own difficult experiences with "depression, attempted suicide, gang warfare, sexual and physical abuse, absentee parents, poverty, racism, and learning disabilities." He noted:
"I have yet to receive a letter from a child somehow debilitated by the domestic violence, drug abuse, racism, poverty, sexuality, and murder contained in my book. To the contrary, kids as young as ten have sent me autobiographical letters written in crayon, complete with drawings inspired by my book, that are just as dark, terrifying, and redemptive as anything I’ve ever read."[59]
The book has been credited with addressing the experiences and issues faced by Native American students in the public school system.[60]
Some have even discussed the merits of the book while also mentioning the risks of exposing children to the harsher scenes. In an essay on censorship, young adult fiction author Raquel Rivera wrote:
"It is an excellent book and happens to have much useful material for a boy entering his teens... But there is a scene in Part-Time Indian in which a racist joke is told, and the protagonist is compelled to fight. For me, the joke was nothing more than a tool to propel the plot. In the story it is duly vanquished and forgotten. But the joke stayed with my son, and he continued to be bothered by it."[61]
