Young Adult Literature

I am enjoying this class despite the fact that it requires to much of my time.
The first book that we read was The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie. This book tells the story of Junior, a Native American adolescent living on a reservation. He is surrounded by alcoholism, neglect and the lack of hope that pervades in his culture. He has one teacher who encourages him to do more with his life and decides to go to a "white" school off of the reservation 22 miles away . At first it is very difficult for him. He feels shunned by the whites. At home on the "rez" he is shunned for "turning white". His family supports him but many times he hitch hikes to school and has little food to eat. He eventually makes a few friends and gets on the basketball team. His first game is against the "rez" team and leaves him in the hospital with a slight concussion. He never gives up and that is what I really enjoyed about this story. His dad's best friend, his grandma and his sister all die yet he never gives up.
This books theme is that there is hope if you look for it and that the effort you put into life is what makes life better.
I cried when I read parts of this. Especially when his dad took off drinking during Christmas because there was no money for gifts. When his dad comes home he has in his boot a crumpled five dollar bill for Junior. Junior realizes how hard it was for his dad, an alcoholic, to save that much for him rather that use it to drink. I would recommend this book to youth because it is good to see how other people live and that your own life is not that bad.
Warning: there is discussions of masturbation and other things some people might not want their kids to read.