We’re highlighting year 2011 on the timeline of banned and challenged books. The featured books is “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” by Sherman Alexie.
In 2011, the Richland (WA) School Board voted to prohibit “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” for all grades, though the initial complaint came in regard to its use for ninth-grade English classes. The following month, after public outcry and after board members and district committee members read the novel, the book was declared to be “outstanding” and the decision to ban it was reversed. “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” explores complex issues of race, class, and identity and has come under fire for its violence, sexual content, and language. It won the National Book Award for Young Peoples Literature in 2007.
For more information about Banned Books Week, please visit www.ala.org/bbooks.
