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Chapters
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian has 25 chapters.
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Chapters25 items
The Black-Eye-of-the-Month Club
Junior introduces himself and his life on the Spokane Indian Reservation. He was born with water on the brain, which left him with physical differences that make him a target for…
Why Chicken Means So Much to Me
Junior explains what it actually feels like to grow up poor on the reservation. His family runs out of money before they run out of month, every month.
Revenge Is My Middle Name
Junior's best friend Rowdy is introduced. Rowdy is physically tough, often angry, and fiercely protective of Junior.
Because Geometry Is Not a Country Somewhere Near France
Junior starts high school on the reservation and gets a geometry textbook that turns out to be decades old, the same one his mother used.
Hope Against Hope
Mr. P visits Junior at home during his suspension.
Go Means Go
Junior tells his parents he wants to transfer to Reardan, the all-white farm school twenty-two miles away. His parents are stunned but eventually support the decision.
Rowdy Sings the Blues
Junior tells Rowdy about the transfer to Reardan, and Rowdy's reaction is explosive. He calls Junior a traitor and punches him in the face.
How to Fight Monsters
Junior's first day at Reardan. He is the only Native American student in the school, and nearly every white student stares at him or ignores him.
Grandmother Gives Me Some Advice
Before Junior starts at Reardan, his grandmother gives him advice about how to handle white people. She tells him to be tolerant, because tolerance is a sign of strength.
Tears of a Clown
Junior reflects on his habit of using humor to cope with pain. He explains that he cries a lot, which surprises people who think of him as funny.
Halloween
Junior decides to dress as a homeless Native American for Halloween, not realizing until too late that his costume looks exactly like his everyday clothes.
Slouching Toward Thanksgiving
Junior struggles through the weeks between Halloween and Thanksgiving at Reardan. He's still an outsider, still getting bullied, and still riding the farm truck to school.
My Sister Sends Me an E-mail
Junior gets an e-mail from his sister Mary, who has moved to Montana with her husband and is living on a different reservation.
Reindeer Games
Junior tries out for the Reardan basketball team and makes it, which should be a win. But his first game back against the reservation school, Wellpinit, turns into something much…
Christmas
Junior goes home for Christmas with almost no money for gifts. His family is broke, and the holiday is thin.
My Sister Sends Me a Letter
Junior receives a letter from his sister Mary, who has moved to Montana with her husband and is trying to build a new life.
Red Versus White
Junior navigates the growing tension between his two worlds: the Spokane reservation and the white community at Reardan.
Dance to the Beat of the Drum
Junior attends a powwow on the reservation, and for a moment he feels genuinely connected to his culture and his people.
Don't Trust Your Computer
Junior uses the internet to research his family history and discovers that his grandmother, his father's best friend Eugene, and his sister Mary have all died within a short perio…
My Sister Sends Me a Letter
This chapter shares its title with Chapter 16, and the repetition is intentional. Junior receives news that his sister Mary has died in a fire in her home in Montana.
Because Russian Guys Are Not Always Geniuses
Junior reflects on the deaths of famous people who died young or foolishly, using dark humor to process the grief of losing his grandmother.
My Tribe
Junior gets a surprise at his grandmother's funeral: Eugene, a family friend, is also killed shortly after, and then Mary's trailer burns down, killing her too.
Rowdy and I Have a Long and Serious Discussion About Basketball
The title is a joke. Junior and Rowdy don't talk at all.
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree
Junior tallies up everything he lost over the course of the year: his grandmother, Eugene, his sister Mary. He also counts what he gained, including new friends at Reardan and a b…
Talking About Turtles
The novel closes with Junior and Rowdy spending time together, drawing and talking. Rowdy tells Junior he thinks Junior is a nomad, like the Indians of the past who moved and trav…
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