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Jul 21, 2020Sean_Exon rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Life on the Spokane Indian Reservation was tough for Junior, a teenage Indian boy. He lived in poverty, had alcoholic parents, bullied by his community and even his best friend was not nice to him. Mr. P, a white teacher, encouraged him to attend an all white high school, Reardon High, outside the reservation where he could get a better education. His parents were supportive of the idea. Being the only Indian student in his new high school caused a lot of tension with the other kids until he punched out the strongest, most popular kid in the school. To his surprise, the other kids accepted him after that. I genuinely liked this book. It talks about living in poverty, how it feels being the odd one out, and it sheds light on racism. Living in poverty was tough, but the journey to try and work hard to get out of poverty proved to be even tougher for Junior. He was ashamed of being poor so he tried to hide it from his white friends. When he finally had to confess that he was poor, his true friends stood by him. That was a huge lesson he learned that true friendship is not based on whether you are rich or poor. True friendship is loyalty and a bond with the other person. As a teenager, the worst feeling is being the odd one out. This book also touches on the subject of racism. Junior’s girlfriend was a white blonde hair girl and that her father did not approve of him simply because he was Indian. In one scenario, Junior was admiring his girlfriend playing volleyball wearing a white T-shirt with white shorts, against her light skin color and blonde hair. It seems as though the author used this scene to challenge the reader to think deeper into the issue of racism. Is her father the racist for disliking him for his darker skin color or is Junior a racist for admiring his girlfriend's lighter skin color? The only downside of this book is that it was unnecessarily sexualized. I feel the author used sexuality just to be “cool” for the teen audience. Aside from that, this book is a great read for those interested in a genuine teenage experience.