Still a great book, with a strong message of hope in spite of circumstances. 
 Still annoys the hell out of me that this gets challenged so often, usually due to the casual reference to masturbation. 
 [first read Dec 2007] 
 This could be every book written about the Indian experience--the poverty, the problems, the culture. And it could be every book ever written about wanting to fit in at a new school. But combined, there's no other book this could be. 
 Junior (actually Arnold Spirit, Jr.) is already something of a stand-out on the reservation, and unfortunately it's not in the good way. Born with hydrocephalus, he had brain surgery early on and a seizure disorder in childhood. He's a nerd who gets beaten up a lot, a smart kid who draws cartoons. But eventually someone sees something in him, a teacher who encourages him to follow his dreams, a teacher who convinces him that it's okay to have hope. That hope takes Junior away from the reservation to an all-white school, where the only other Indian is the mascot. Naturally the white kids don't like him because he's Indian, and his reservation community is angry with him for fraternizing in the white world. 
 The death of a loved one lacks the anticipated emotional punch, which only underscores Junior's point that this--deaths due to alcoholism--is common among those on the reservation. It's that detachment, the moment at which the reader understands that Junior's grief is so familiar to him, that becomes the most heartbreaking moment of the novel. It's funny and hopeful in spite of its tragedies. It's a familiar story of longing to belong, of feeling out of place, of trying to navigate high school and social groups and even family dynamics, but at the same time it's a brand-new story of tolerance and hope. The narrative veers dangerously close to a "we're all the same beneath our skins" message, but the point is that we're not--but that we shouldn't allow that to keep ourselves separated from other people.