From: Debbie Reese <debreese>
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 2009 12:12:33 -0500

I've been thinking hard about ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY of late, prompted by a colleague who finds it homophobic. I asked another colleague about it and we've started studying passages in the book. This is hard for me, because I want to celebrate books by Native authors that are realistic portrayals of the lives of Native people. I find a lot of what Alexie shares in DIARY to be right on. That's its value, for me, but I'm thinking about the homophobia in the book and the work it does.

I've been away from ccbc-net for some time, so if you already discussed this, I apologize for raising it now.

Debbie
(reading ccbc-net in digest)



Visit my Internet resource: American Indians in Children's Literature http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.net

Debbie A. Reese (Namb? O'-ween-ge') Assistant Professor, American Indian Studies University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Native American House, Room 2005 1204 West Nevada Street, MC-138 Urbana, Illinois 61801

Email: debreese at illinois.edu TEL 217-265-9885 FAX 217-265-9880
Received on Fri 10 Apr 2009 12:12:33 PM CDT