One surprise for Sherman Alexie in his hugely successful foray into children's and YA literature is that everyone in the field is so nice: "It's an exponentially kinder professional world, so I really enjoy the people," he says. "The writers, the librarians, the booksellers. We're united in our mission to get books to kids. Still, there are egos, but the primary mission of all of us is to get books into the hands of kids. There's something primal about it."
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Poet, short story writer, novelist, filmmaker, social satirist and Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, Alexie first catapulted into the world of YA with The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Little, Brown), which won the 2007 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. His debut picture book, Thunder Boy Jr. (just published by Little, Brown), illustrated by Yuyi Morales, has sparked a constellation of starred reviews.
Alexie wants to write about contemporary kids. "I'm not interested in talking animals," he says. "I'm not interested in telling the story of Running Bear. I'm interested in how Native kids live now." Instead of publishers "cleaning up" and reissuing a classic title that may contain stereotypical images or ideas, he suggests in a recent Shelf interview, "Publish something new, damn it! With the amount of money they're putting into that book they could probably publish five new books!"
The raw, emotionally potent Absolutely True Diary hits home for many young readers: "I've gotten fan letters from rich white private school kids and from the poorest kids on the rez and in the inner city," Alexie says. "And one thing always rings clear: kids feel trapped by their communities' expectations. And then it's hard to become an individual. And in becoming an individual, you're going to get hurt. I think there's something universal about that message." --Karin Snelson, children's & YA editor, Shelf Awareness
Read Shelf Awareness's full interview with Sherman Alexie.