Arnold Spirit isn’t like most Indians in books. His clothes aren’t buckskin, but come from K Mart. His home isn’t the expansive wild American West, but a government house on the poverty stricken Spokane Indian Reservation in Eastern Washington. Arnold reads comics, wears coke-bottle glasses, has a terrible stutter, and consequently is the target for all the bullies on the reservation. Well, all but his best friend Rowdy whose fists are on Arnold’s side. But when Arnold decides to transfer to a rich Shool off of the reservation, after noticing that his history textbook was the same on that his mother had used when she was in school, Rowdy feels betrayed and Arnold looses his one ally.
At his new school the only other Indian is the mascot and Arnold anticipates disaster at every turn. Instead he quickly makes new friends and soon becomes a starter on the basketball team. Opportunities open for Arnold even as tragedy after tragedy befalls his family. But Arnold neither retreats back to his home nor leaves the reservation behind him. Arnold Spirit is one of the most original and likeable characters in teen literature, and this alternatingly hilarious and heartbreaking story will have you rooting for him like a brother.
At his new school the only other Indian is the mascot and Arnold anticipates disaster at every turn. Instead he quickly makes new friends and soon becomes a starter on the basketball team. Opportunities open for Arnold even as tragedy after tragedy befalls his family. But Arnold neither retreats back to his home nor leaves the reservation behind him. Arnold Spirit is one of the most original and likeable characters in teen literature, and this alternatingly hilarious and heartbreaking story will have you rooting for him like a brother.
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