Liz Sonneborn - Sherman Alexie

Published in 2013 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

Copyright 2013 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Sonneborn, Liz.

Sherman Alexie/Liz Sonneborn.1st ed.

p. cm.(All about the author)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4488-6941-1 (library binding)

1. Alexie, Sherman, 1966Juvenile literature. 2. Indians of North AmericaBiographyJuvenile literature. 3. Authors, American20th centuryBiographyJuvenile literature.

I. Title.

PS3551.L35774Z86 2012

818.5409dc23

2011039479

Manufactured in the United States of America

CPSIA Compliance Information: Batch #S12YA: For further information, contact Rosen Publishing, New York, New York, at 1-800-237-9932.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

F ourteen-year-old Sherman Alexie was sitting in a classroom in his school on the Spokane Indian Reservation. He opened a beaten-up math textbook and saw something that made him furious. It was his mothers maiden namethe name she used before she had married his father.

Sherman knew exactly what it meant. This was the very same book that his mother had used for her math lessons when she was a girl. How can I learn anything here, Sherman wondered, if my textbook is thirty years old? Mad at the school and mad at his life, Sherman grabbed the book and threw it. It sailed through the air before slamming against a wall with a dull thud.

Twenty-seven years later, Sherman Alexie was sitting in another room, in New York City, far from the Indian reservation in Washington State where he grew up. In this hotel ballroom, he was surrounded by many of the greatest American writers of the day. They were all there waiting for the announcement of the winners of the 2007 National Book Award.

Alexie was one of the nominees for the award for young peoples literature. His acclaimed novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian was inspired by the problems, struggles, and occasional triumphs he experienced as a teenager. The books hero, Arnold Spirit Jr., threw a math book just as young Alexie had done. But in Arnolds case the book hit a teacher, an event that set Arnold off on an adventure that took him away from the reservation and into the wider world.

In 2007, Sherman Alexie won the National Book Award for his first novel for young readers, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian . The National Book Award is one of the most prestigious prizes an American writer can win.

Novelist Elizabeth Partridge read the names of the nominees of the young peoples literature award. She then paused and announced the winnerSherman Alexie. He moved through the audience and bounded onto the stage, smiling as he told the audience, Wow! Well, I obviously should have been writing YA [young adult literature] all along! During his acceptance speech, available for viewing on the National Book Foundations Web site, he remembered how as a college student reading a poem by Adrian C. Louis, a Paiute Indian poet, had changed his life. It suggested to him that hea poor kid from the Spokane Indian Reservationmight be able to be a writer, too. Its been a gorgeous and lonely and magical and terrifying twenty years since then, he told the audience.

Because of the success of True Diary, many readers think of Alexie as just a YA author. Although he enjoys this new role, he had a long career before putting Arnold Spirits story into print. Alexie has been a poet, a short story writer, a novelist, a screenwriter, a comedian, and a musician. But no matter what medium he works in, Alexie attracts fans who love exploring the gorgeous, lonely, magical, and terrifying worlds he creates.

CHAPTER ONE

GROWING UP

W hen Sherman Joseph Alexie Jr. was born on October 7, 1966, hardly anyone thought he would live to see his first birthday. He was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, a condition in which too much fluid causes the brain to swell. The boys doctors decided to operate when he was only six months old. They told Alexies parents that the brain surgery would likely have one of two outcomes. In the worst case, their baby would die. In the best, he would be severely mentally impaired for the rest of his life.

Despite the doctors dire predictions, Alexie not only survived, but he also came through the surgery with his ability to think and reason fully intact. The incident established a pattern that would repeat itself throughout Alexies life. Through luck and determination, he would again and again defy others low expectations of what he could do.

Alexie was born with hydrocephalus, popularly known as water on the brain. This life-threatening condition, caused by too much fluid in a persons head, causes the brain to swell and push out against the skull.

ON THE RESERVATION

Even though the operation was a success, Alexie was ill throughout much of his childhood. He had seizures until he was seven years old. The seizures were terrifying, but they could also leave him feeling exhilarated. In a 2008 interview published in the British newspaper the Guardian, he explained that, during a seizure, theres a surreal euphoria; the synapses are misfiring, so the memory banks are flooding your head. Id get to feel like a superhero for a couple of minutes. On heavy medication, Alexie spent much of his youth in and out of hospitals.

Poor health was far from the only obstacle Alexie faced. Growing up on Washingtons Spokane Indian Reservation was often difficult. His father, Sherman, was a member of the Coeur dAlene tribe. His mother, Lillian, was of mixed ancestry. She had ancestors from three Indian groups the Spokane, Colville, and Flathead. Through one grandfather, she was also one-quarter white. The couple had six children, including Alexie. Raising such a large family would be a challenge under any conditions, but it was especially hard on the reservation. Like nearly all its residents, the Alexie family was desperately poor.

Alexis grew up in the town of Wellpinit on the Spokane Indian Reservation, which is located along the Spokane River in eastern Washington State. The city of Spokane lies to the east of the reservation.

Living in Wellpinit, the reservations only town, money was hard to come by. Alexies mother worked in Wellpinits one store while earning a little on the side by selling handmade quilts. His father was a laborer who often found odd jobs driving trucks or working in the logging industry.