The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

by Sherman Alexie

"Yep, now even the teachers were treating me like an idiot. I shrank back into my chair and remembered when I used to be human."

"'You can do it,' Coach said.

'I can do it.'

'You can do it.'

'I can do it.'

Do you understand how amazing it is to hear that from an adult? Do you know how amazing it is to hear that from anybody? It's one of the simplest sentences in the world, just four words, but they're the four hugest words in the world when they're but together."

"I realized that I might be a lonely Indian boy, but I was not alone in my loneliness. There were millions of other Americans who had left their birthplaces in search of a dream.

I realized that, sure, I was a Spokane Indian. I belonged to that tribe. But I also belonged to the tribe of American immigrants. And to the tribe of basketball players. And the the tribe of bookworms.

And the tribe of cartoonists.

And the tribe of teenage boys.

And the tribe of small-town kids.

And the tribe of poverty.

And the tribe of funeral-goers.

It was a huge realization.

And that's when I knew I was going to be okay."