--- title: Sherman Alexie on Banned Books, Clinton and Star Wars description: TIME talks with the author of 'The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian' canonical: https://time.com/4292771/sherman-alexie-part-time-indian-thunder-boy/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-04T20:09:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T16:43:03.897Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Sherman Alexie Talks Banned Books and Hillary Clinton og:description: TIME talks with the author of 'The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian' og:url: https://time.com/4292771/sherman-alexie-part-time-indian-thunder-boy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcdeaac033b4de29b/698891f02dce0171fd9e8eed/sherman-alexie.jpg?branch=production&width=1118&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1118 og:image:height: 629 og:image:alt: sherman-alexie og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sherman Alexie Talks Banned Books and Hillary Clinton twitter:description: TIME talks with the author of 'The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcdeaac033b4de29b/698891f02dce0171fd9e8eed/sherman-alexie.jpg?branch=production&width=1118&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Sherman Alexie Talks About Why He's 'One of the Brown Folks for Clinton' > Sponsored content. 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There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=349db497-c0ac-4eaa-ba11-aff1f284ca32&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley May 4, 2016 8:09 PM UTC  Lee Towndrow; Little, Brown Books for Young Readers by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley May 4, 2016 8:09 PM UTC On May 10, the author of _Reservation Blues_ and _The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian_ publishes his first picture book, _Thunder Boy Jr_., about a Native American boy who wishes he had a different name. **TIME: What was your aim in writing this?** **Alexie:** There’s a real lack of Native Americans in contemporary picture books. I mean, there’s a lack of us in all genres, but I couldn’t find a picture book about a contemporary Native American family. **Why is writing for a young audience important to you?** The books I read when I was younger, they could change me overnight. That doesn’t really happen as an adult. Maybe there are people like that, but I’m not one of them, and I never hear from them. But I get these amazing letters from kids since I wrote _True Diary._ **The American Library Association has called** **_True Diary_** **the most banned book in America. How do you feel about that?** It’s awesome. It helps sales. But \[the banning is\] not just about the sexual content, which is pretty minor. It’s about the race, the ethnicity and the politics. I think that all blends together for certain people so that the book feels completely strange and threatening to them. **Why do you think the question of free speech vs. “political correctness” is on the public’s mind these days?** Internet communication is making people more impulsive. That said, it’s also because we brown folks are sick of this sh-t and we exercise our power. That makes old power structures uncomfortable—and that’s conservatives _and_ liberals. You can see that dynamic with Sanders vs. Clinton, where brown folks are hanging with Clinton. **Why do you think that is?** Because the government has actually worked for us. 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