Alexie, Sherman. Flight. Grove/Atlantic, Inc. 2007.181p.

Similarly to his other novels, Sherman Alexie’s Flight, focuses on the plight of an adolescent half white, half Native American boy, known solely as “Zits.” Flight begins by depicting Zits’ difficult fitting in to society because of his unattractive looks, mainly stemming from his pimpled skin, and his lack of definitive identity. While Zits’ is half Native American, his father never acknowledged him, so Zits believes he suffers the difficulties that all Native Americans do without the benefits of being accepted into a community. However, Zits’ story quickly takes a dark turn when he develops a friendship with a young white man, Justice, who convinces Zits that he is a victim of white society, and persuades him to shoot up a white bank. When Zits goes through with the shooting, he is transported back and forth through time to other moments of violence between whites and Native Americans. Throughout his experiences, Zits searches for his identity and attempts to reconcile his belief that he is a victim of society and overcome his hatred toward those who have hurt him, and his identity as Native American, in the past.

Adhering to Alexi’s other works, Flight is brimming with obscene language and references to violence and sex, and while these factors will undoubtedly cause many parents to object, allowing “distasteful” language to overrule the content of this novel would be a shame. In reality, the content of this novel makes it much more appropriate for 8^th graders to high schoolers, but this novel could undoubtedly relate to groups of students that oftentimes feel unreachable in regards to conventional middle and high school literature. It is oftentimes very funny, while also packed with themes that are very relatable to adolescents, such as a search for identity and overcoming and moving past cruelty and becoming a person who can love himself. Therefore, this novel would be controversial in certain classes, but it should be defended as a significant addition to all middle and high school libraries.