Is My The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Census claim confirmed, with one correction to the imprint: the title page reads "LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY / New York Boston" — both cities, not New York alone — under the Little, Brown Books for Young Readers imprint
• The first printing states "First edition: September 2007" on the copyright page and carries a full number code whose lowest number is 1; later printings drop the low numbers, and dealers cite an eighth printing whose code runs only from 8 to 10, so the lowest surviving digit gives the printing
• Copyright notices read "Copyright © 2007 by Sherman Alexie" and "Illustrations copyright © 2007 by Ellen Forney", with design credited to Kirk Benshoff
• Trade hardcover is ISBN 978-0-316-01368-0 (0-316-01368-4)
• Binding is blue paper-covered boards with the spine title stamped in copper/bronze metallic ink; jacket priced at the front flap
• Forney's cartoon illustrations run throughout

How Little, Brown and Company / Little, Brown Books for Young Readers marked a first edition

• From 1940 onward: Little, Brown adopted an explicit statement, printing 'First Edition' OR 'First Printing' on the copyright page of a first printing. Presence of that phrase, with no overriding later-printing line, deno…
• Late 1970s onward: Little, Brown added a descending number line to the copyright page. Per the trade-house standard, the first printing is present only when the line still contains a '1' (e.g., '10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1'); t…

Full Little, Brown and Company / Little, Brown Books for Young Readers first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

US: Little, Brown and Company, published 12 September 2007 — the true first, uncontested. The book won the 2007 National Book Award for Young People's Literature in November 2007, two months after publication. No UK or original-language precedence question arises; the book was written in English and the American edition preceded all others.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The National Book Award is the printing tell. The award postdates publication, so a first printing cannot have the citation printed into the jacket artwork — later printings and the current in-print edition carry "National Book Award Winner" as part of the jacket. An applied round gold embossed National Book Award Winner sticker is different: it was stuck onto existing jacket stock and dealers record it on first printings, so a sticker alone does not demote a copy. Also traps: the 2009 paperback (ISBN 0-316-01369-2), which adds a 2009 interview and an Oyate discussion guide, and the 2017 tenth-anniversary edition (ISBN 978-0-316-50404-1) — both "first thus", not first editions.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian a first edition?

A first edition of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (illustrated by Ellen Forney) (Little, Brown and Company / Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) is identified by: Census claim confirmed, with one correction to the imprint: the title page reads "LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY / New York Boston" — both cities, not New York alone — under the Little, Brown Books for Young Readers imprint.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. US: Little, Brown and Company, published 12 September 2007 — the true first, uncontested.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

The National Book Award is the printing tell. The award postdates publication, so a first printing cannot have the citation printed into the jacket artwork — later printings and the current in-print edition carry "National Book Award Winner" as part of the jacket. An applied round gold embossed National Book Award Winner sticker is different: it was stuck onto existing jacket stock and dealers record it on first printings, so a sticker alone does not demote a copy. Also traps: the 2009 paperback

I have a first edition of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.