Who Do You See?

What happens when a student never sees himself represented in the books provided in schools and libraries? How does she identify with the characters and stories she reads if she can't recognize any of the characters she meets? How do teachers and librarians learn about the students and patrons they serve if they don't read and provide the books that represent a broad spectrum of culture and circumstance? How do we teach students to be tolerant of others if we do not tolerate books in our collections that may make us uncomfortable?

As I read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, I realized that it is the first YA novel I have ever read that has a Native American as the protagonist. That bothers me, so I started looking in our school literature books. The 10th and 11th grade lit books each have fewer than five pieces related to Native Americans, and several of those are Native American legends.

When Junior realized the inadequacy of the textbooks in the reservation school, I felt his frustration. I wondered how this could happen in a system that is supposed to provide adequate textbooks through government funding. This led me to wonder about the frustration that other kids feel, or may not recognize that they are feeling, when none of the books they read reflect their lives or culture. Junior made a radical educational change in his life, and he finally realizes that as "Arnold," he doesn't belong to a single tribe. He belongs to multiple tribes. Wouldn't providing books that students identify with support them in coming to the same realization?

Some people have objected to this book because of the sexual nature of some of the thoughts of the fourteen year old boy and "vulgar" language. I wonder if perhaps the true objection, the unvoiced objection, is to the reality of the shoddy treatment, the abysmal education system, and the dire poverty endured by Native Americans in this country.