If I Ever Get Out of Here

Many characters are Native American; specifically, Tuscarora-enrolled tribal members living on the Tuscarora Nation Reservation, where author Eric Gainsworth (enrolled Onondaga) grew up. Book shows complexity of reservation life -- extended families and cultural celebrations compete with a lack of resources. Lewis occasionally speaks Tuscarora, explains enrollment and sovereign tribal governments to his friends. Horrible legacy of Native American boarding schools is discussed, as is how Native Americans continue to receive unfair treatment because of racist stereotyping. Setting is 1970s, so "Indian" is used rather than terms such as "Indigenous" and "Native American." Mental health is highlighted in arcs of two characters who struggle with employment. Economic diversity is a plot point: Lewis' lower-income home shows the level of poverty that some people on reservations experience. All main characters are men, but Lewis' mom and George's girlfriend are also important in the story. White and Indigenous people are the only racial groups represented. All romantic relationships are between men and women.

Lewis is physically and mentally bullied by a White classmate because he's Native American and lives on the Tuscarora reservation. The boy frequently beats Lewis up, and adults overlook it because the boy bullying him is part of an influential family. Other Indigenous people are physically and verbally threatened. White classmates treat Lewis poorly because they see his cultural behaviors as rude and uncool.

Lewis' Uncle Albert, with whom Lewis shares a room, hangs pictures of "totally naked" women on his wall; Albert also has an adult magazine collection. Lewis admits that he's looked through the collection, and his friend George shows interest in similar magazines and TV content. When George begins dating Stacey, he briefly talks about kissing and making out.

Lewis calls the boy bullying him an "a--hole," and the word is repeated a few times. The term "cripple" is said, and some disrespectful and outdated language is used to describe Indigenous people.

Adults who abuse alcohol are mentioned. Lewis tries alcohol with a friend but doesn't get drunk. A character mentions that his older siblings smoke pot.

Parents need to know that If I Ever Get Out of Here is about Lewis Blake, a Native American Tuscarora-enrolled teen who lives on the Tuscarora Nation Reservation in the 1970s. Lewis is often ostracized by White classmates at his off-reservation public school. As the story starts, he's in seventh grade and befriends George, a new student from a military family who likes the same music and doesn't have the same prejudices about Native Americans that many locals do. At school, Lewis is bullied and beaten up because of his race and cultural traditions, and adults, including teachers, ignore it, don't believe him when he reports it, and look down on him for taking a stand. By talking about the horrible legacy of boarding schools for Native American children, the under-resourced and underserved Tuscarora reservation, and continued acts of disrespect toward Indigenous people, Lewis is able to create closer friendships and community ties. There's some experimental teen drinking and underage driving.