The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Pre-reading activity: Growing up in poverty means that you may go hungry, and that sleep is the only thing you have for dinner. What do you think is the worst thing about being poor?
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian tells the story of Arnold Spirit Jr. Arnold is a budding cartoonist growing up in poverty on the Spokane Indian reservation. Sometimes he wishes that he could draw "a fist full of twenty dollar bills, and perform some magic trick and make it real". In the following excerpt you can hear what he thinks is the worst thing about being poor. It might not be what you expect. The excerpt, which is taken from chapter 2, is read by Sherman Alexie himself. According to Arnold, what is the worst thing about being poor?
http://www.fallsapart.com/audio/PT-Indian.p3.mp3
If you want to read on your own, the two first chapters of the novel are available at teensreads.com
http://www.teenreads.com/reviews/9780316013697-excerpt.asp
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