At first I didn't like the book. At all. I found it redundant and bitter. As it progressed, however, I began to understand my own latent prejudices that I don't like to voice and as the book confronted prejudices and racism, I confronted my own. I would teach this book for that reason alone if none other existed.
That, to me, is its redeeming quality. It forces teens to confront the images of what "white" and "red" and "black" and "brown" are and makes them come to a conclusion in their own mind.
There are so many great talking points in this book and I think Alexie does a great job of bringing these issues to the front in a nonthreatening way (at least to the student). I would spend a lot of time on the quote: "You have to love somebody that much to also hate them that much, too."
Apart from all of that, it is a useful book for anyone (every kid in high school) who is trying to find out who he/she is. Is it redundant? Perhaps. But it's a fresh redundancy that is needed.
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