If I Ever Get Out Of Here

Title: If I Ever Get Out Of Here
Author: Eric Gansworth
Pages: 368
Langage: PG
Content: PG
Level: Middle/High School
Recommendation: Good Read

Summary: Lewis "Shoe" Blake is used to the joys and difficulties of life on the Tuscarora Indian reservation in 1975: the joking, the Fireball games, the snow blowing through his roof. What he's not used to is white people being nice to him -- people like George Haddonfield, whose family recently moved to town with the Air Force. As the boys connect through their mutual passion for...more
Lewis "Shoe" Blake is used to the joys and difficulties of life on the Tuscarora Indian reservation in 1975: the joking, the Fireball games, the snow blowing through his roof. What he's not used to is white people being nice to him -- people like George Haddonfield, whose family recently moved to town with the Air Force. As the boys connect through their mutual passion for music, especially the Beatles, Lewis has to lie more and more to hide the reality of his family's poverty from George. He also has to deal with the vicious Evan Reininger, who makes Lewis the special target of his wrath. But when everyone else is on Evan's side, how can he be defeated? And if George finds out the truth about Lewis's home -- will he still be his friend?

Review:  Similar to Alexie's Absolutely True Diary.  There is a universal pressure for kids from marginalized communities to negotiate the gap between home and school.  We can't have enough books told from a Native perspective. As Debbie Reese says, "Through exquisite writing, wit, and music, the author invites you inside a native home."    The book’s messages are clear: Prejudice is bad. Bullies are bad. Friends accept you as you are, not as you’d like to be. Music is a universal language and overcomes most barriers.