Eric Gansworth's Apple has garnered praise for its compelling and heartfelt exploration of Native American identity. Reviewers highlight its poignant storytelling and evocative illustrations. However, some critics note a lack of narrative cohesion. Overall, the memoir is praised for its raw honesty and cultural insights, despite occasional structural weaknesses.

Readers who appreciate coming-of-age stories, Indigenous narratives, and poetic memoirs will enjoy Eric Gansworth's Apple. Fans of Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give will find similar themes of identity, struggle, and resilience.

Apple by Eric Gansworth is a memoir in verse that reflects on his upbringing within the Haudenosaunee community, focusing on intergenerational trauma resulting from colonialism, his family's history, and his personal journey to self-understanding and cultural reconnection. The narrative is interwoven with references to The Beatles' music and Gansworth’s love for art and superheroes. The text includes discussions of anti-Indigenous racism, colonial violence, cultural genocide, child abuse, and substance abuse.

Nostalgic / Contemplative / Emotional / Bittersweet / Heartwarming

- Apple: Skin to the Core by Eric Gansworth is a celebrated work that combines poetry and art to explore the author’s personal and cultural identity as an Onondaga artist and writer.
- The book's title, Apple, refers to a derogatory term often used to criticize Native people perceived as 'red on the outside, white on the inside,' which Gansworth reclaims and reinterprets through his storytelling.
- Eric Gansworth not only penned the words for Apple, but he also created the accompanying visual art, offering a multi-dimensional experience that highlights his versatile talent.

**Eric Gansworth**  
The author and narrator, who was born on a Tuscarora reservation and identifies as Onondaga, struggles with cultural identity and recounts his family's history amid the legacy of cultural and colonial impacts.

**Gansworth’s Father**  
An often-absent figure in Eric's life, his father is an iron worker who struggles with alcoholism and is featured primarily in a series of poems about their relationship.

**Gansworth’s Mother**  
Effectively a single parent to seven children, she worked multiple jobs to support the family and encouraged Eric to pursue education off the reservation.

**Jaboozie**  
A childhood friend of Eric's, known by her nickname, who shares a love of music and books with him and later inspires him with a college gift that broadens his horizons.

**Big Umma and Little Umma**  
Gansworth's grandmothers, who attended residential schools and distanced themselves from their Indigenous culture, significantly affecting Eric's and his parents' cultural connections.

**Umps**  
Gansworth's maternal grandfather, who, despite surviving boarding school, distances himself from Tuscarora culture but hopes his children will engage more with the outside world.

**Willard**  
Gansworth's paternal grandfather who maintains some cultural connections due to ill health, but whose life is deeply impacted by his time at a residential school.

Eric Gansworth

Memoir in Verse

Nonfiction

Guide

Study Guide

Before You Read

Explore Apple reviews, reading age recommendations, and essential genre and thematic details before you start reading.

Before You Read Apple | SuperSummary

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Overview

Get ready to explore Apple and its meaning. Our full analysis and study guide provides an even deeper dive with character analysis and quotes explained to help you discover the complexity and beauty of this book.

Apple Summary and Study Guide

Background

Apple Background

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Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1: “Apple Records” - Part 2: “The Red Album”

Part 1-Part 2, Poem 24

Apple Part 1-Part 2, Poem 24 Summary & Analysis

Part 2: “The Red Album”

Part 2, Poems 25-44

Apple Part 2, Poems 25-44 Summary & Analysis

Part 2, Poems 45-60

Apple Part 2, Poems 45-60 Summary & Analysis

Part 3: “Dog Street”

Part 3 Apple Part 3 Summary & Analysis

Part 4: “Get Back”

Part 4 Apple Part 4 Summary & Analysis

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Key Figures

Apple Key Figures

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Themes

Apple Themes

Index of Terms

Apple Index of Terms

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Important Quotes

Apple Important Quotes

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Essay Topics

Apple Essay Topics

Apple: Skin to the Core

Before You Read

Super Short Summary

Reviews & Readership

Review Roundup

Who Should Read Apple?

Reading Age

Book Details