VVMBookBlog

14-year-old Arnold “Junior” Spirit is a Spokane Indian who has lived on the “rez” all his life.  He has an older sister whom he admires very much and a mother and father who love him, even though his father is a chronic alcoholic. Arnold has several disabilities due to his hydrocephaly or water on the brain, and has some physical conditions that make him a target for bullying.  And he has a talent for cartooning.

Arnold has always attended the school on the reservation but a classroom incident in the first days of his 9th grade year prompts one of his teachers to recommend that he leave the rez school for a better school–the nearest public school 22 miles away.  Now branded as a traitor to his reservation family, Arnold faces the many challenges to being a reservation Indian in a very white school.  He doesn’t back down from any challenge and doors open for him in every situation.

In spite of some tough social and living conditions in Arnold’s life, this book is funny, fun to read and hopeful.  It’s definitely for more mature readers who can read beyond just the words to the amazingly courageous person that is Arnold.

It’s 1968 and time again for 13-year-old Karlene to compete in the county spelling bee.  This time she’s helped by her new Latin teacher, Mrs. Harrison, who not only helps her with spelling, but gives Karlene a vision of what her future could be.  Karlene’s mother works hard to support their family, but her father is an alcoholic who can’t manage to stay sober for long.  But when she babysits for Mrs. Harrison’s children, she sees how a home can be a source of comfort, culture and fun.  And she’s given encouragement to compete her way to the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

Karlene’s experience with language and words ranges from the complex vocabulary she’s learning for the spelling bee and from her Latin teacher, and the rough, common language of her home.  She rarely holds back from saying what she thinks in a very direct way.  Her dreams for her future life with Billy Ray and her feelings for him are also very direct for a girl of 13.  I’m struggling with how to say this with sounding overly cautious, but many things she said and the way she said them, were on the edge of shocking for a book that is supposed to be for readers in grades 5-8.  I’m not sure if this first-time author intended that, or if it’s part of being a first-time author.  I still liked the story enough, however, to present it in this blog.  I like a character who stands up and takes control of his/her life!  And…the references to 1960’s culture–song lyrics and stories–were a fun blast from my own past!