Alexis book left me rather conflicted. As I mentioned in my last post, there are better books with cultural representation than the Margot Sanchez one. I do believe that this book is far more accessible to students. The reading level is about the same, that of an 8th grader, but I feel that male students would enjoy it far more. While it is more inclusive of them, I do not think females would shy away from the book. I also this it is important that this book was written by a local author because it makes writing seem more real and less like an activity only for dead white guys. Additionally, there are not many books that appeal to Natives and that is a narrative that students really have been missing.
With all of this, however, I still would not teach this book in my own classroom. I cannot imagine a setting in which I could reconcile the low reading level with the mature content. The book discusses pornography and masturbation and although these are very real topics, they aren’t ones I feel comfortable addressing in my own classroom. There may come a time when I am skilled enough to handle these topics and have a class that is as well, but that would be far down the road. Even if I found myself in that position, I still would not teach this book. Recently, it has come out that Alexis may be sexually harassing people. Until this is resolved, I will not support his career in any way. Regardless of the benefits of his book, I think it is more important to make a stand and show students that one’s actions matter. Violating other people is not okay and unless the allegations are proven false, I would not put that into my classroom.
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