Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.I thought this book had everything I was looking for: humor, substance, and heart! I'd heard through the grapevine that all Jacob lovers needed to read this novel and they were absolutely right. Your heart absolutely goes out to Junior and all of his endeavors. You can tell his heart is in the right place but nothing works out for his benefit.
Junior is also a cartoonist so there were drawings in the book and I thought it was a great addition and it broke up the novel wonderfully. I found myself turning the pages not only to keep reading, but to see what illustrations were going to be on the page. Some of the accounts actually happened to the author as well, so that was neat that he put so much of himself into the book and Junior's character.
I felt that by the end of this novel I could have considered Junior a friend, and I laughed with him, cried with him, and felt everything he felt as if I were going through it too. I fell in love with this character so much and I believed in him so much. I adored this novel and I can safely say it's one of my absolute favorties to read so please get yourselves a dozen copies!
*****
