Alexie

I finished the novel as well and I also enjoyed it. I honestly don't know why it is considered a YA book though. It reads about the same as all his other works. It would seem that either Sherman Alexie writes at a YA level (which I doubt is the case) or this work was deemed YA because the protagonist was 14. This makes me wonder why Catcher in the Rye is not a YA book. This novel had some "adult" themes (i.e. masturbation, alcoholism, violence, and racism), so what exactly gives it the label of YA? Maybe it was the pictures. Oh and by the way, a personal opinion, the pictures added zero depth to the book. Why capitulate to the graphic novel genre when you are capable of writing real literature? (And just so everyone is aware, I intentionally mocked the genre of graphic novels...OMG gasp!!!)