What it's really all about

Banned Books Week is coming to a close. Hope everyone’s been reading some naughty books.

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Better World Books

I recently read an article about Sherman Alexie’s THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN being removed from a mandatory summer reading list for upcoming 6^th graders in Queens, New York. 

Well, that bumped Alexie’s book to the tip-top of my To Read list.

The parents who brought on the challenge were concerned with Alexie’s casual references to masturbation in the story. One mother is quoted as saying, “It’s about . . . masturbation — which is not appropriate for my child to learn at 11.” She compared The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian to Fifty Shades of Grey. Read the entire article at New York Daily News.

Without having read the book myself, I was loath to chime in on any debate. I immediately procured this book from my public library and dove in. 

Now that I’ve read the book, I can say, pfffttttt!

But I can also admit, that as a mother of a young boy, I imagine any conversation I’m going to have with him about sex and masturbation will be uncomfortable. I’m betting I’m going to make huge mistakes in the conversation and end up scarring the Boy. Need I remind you about The Talk? I’ll try to sound all chill, like,

Masturbation is a natural part of life, son. It's like seasons changing, ice cream, political strife, football, and premature graying. See! Mommy’s is getting grayer by the second.

So yeah, that’s not going to go well. I’m okay with Alexie's main character Junior putting his two cents worth in on the subject. I figure it can’t screw up the Boy any more than I will.

In the end, masturbation is not what THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN is about.

I know! Color me surprised!

The lady in Queens said it was about masturbation. I went into the thing expecting the whole book to be about . . . well, you know. Geez! How many times can I write masturbation in one blog post! I bet there’s a parent out there somewhere who’d love to ban me.

THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN (for me) is about finding your place. Most of us live in very divided worlds. We wear our work face at the office and our beleaguered Mom face at the grocery story, and our I-love-the-smell-of-chlorine-in-the-evening face when we sit, hobbled, on the uncomfortable bleachers during swim team practices. No? Just me?

We wear silly faces, sad faces, sexy faces, mean faces, and in-between faces. We try them all on and some of them stick and some of them don’t.

Junior has the added external struggle of melding his life on the Spokane Indian Reservation with his life off the Rez as a student at a predominately white school in a farming community. For many intermediate and middle grade readers that external struggle is essential to helping them understand the internal battle we all face.

Where do I fit?

I look forward to the Boy reading Alexie’s book, not because I’m looking forward to the awkward conversation about self-lovin’, but because I can’t wait for the conversation about who the Boy thinks he is and where he fits.

I happen to know, he fits nicely in my heart. By reading books with him and leaving open lines of communication (no matter how icky the subject matter), I’m hoping he’ll never want to leave.