Adolescents go through a developmental journey as they transition from child to adult, and in doing so, face many developmental milestones. Physical, cognitive, social, and emotional changes occur during this tumultuous stage of life, and finding meaning in oneself and one's identity becomes a priority. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie tackles the challenges of adolescence in a gripping narrative, but also deals with minority communities and cultures. Establishing an identity has been considered one of the most important stages of adolescent development (Ruffin, 2009). Additionally, ethnic identity is a central component of identity development (ACT for Youth, 2002). While some adolescents seek a cultural identity within a smaller community, others attempt to find their place in the majority culture. (Bucher and Hinton, 2010)The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian chronicles Junior's journey to self-discovery. Like many developing adolescents, he finds himself navigating multiple identities and trying to figure out where he fits in. “Traveling between Reardan and Wellpinit, between the little white town and the reservation, I always felt like a stranger. I was half Indian in one place and half white in the other” (p. 118). On the reservation, he was shunned because he went to a white school. At Reardon, the only other Indian was the school mascot, leaving Junior to question his decision to go to the school he felt he didn't deserve. Teenagers struggling with bicultural identities can relate to Junior's questions of belonging. Junior not only faces the struggle between white and Indian identities, but also the identities of smaller peer groups. In Wellpinit, Junior is the intermediate level of the paper. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, v. 39, no. 6 (March 1996): 436-445. [E Journal] Fegar, Mary-Virginia. "I Want to Read: How Culturally Relevant Texts Increase Students' Engagement in Reading." Multicultural Education, 13:3 (Spring 2006): 18-19. [E Journal] Nilson, Allen Pace, and Kenneth L. Donelson. “The Stages of Literary Appreciation” in Today's Young Adult Literature Longman, 2001: 35-42 [PDF in Blackboard]Ruffin, Adolescent Growth and Development. , 2009. http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/350/350-850/350-850.html Research Institute. The 40 Developmental Assets for Adolescents 2010. http://www.search-institute.org. /content/40-developmental-assets-adolescents-ages-12-18Steinberg, Laurence and Morris, Amanda Sheffield. “Annual Review of Psychology,” (Annual 2001): 83-110.]