Not Exactly: Intertextual Identities and Risky Laughter in Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian

Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian does not exactly fit theories of reading, identity, and authenticity often cited in scholarship on children’s literature by and about Native Americans. Examining the novel’s multiple intertextual identities and the risky laughter of Ellen Forney’s illustrations, I situate its radical potential in Thomas King’s theory of reading.