The above covers all showcase plastic toy representations of Native Americans- the toys are not only inaccurate and insulting, but portray no meaning. The ones in particular that display a cowboy with a gun also falsely implies that the battle is between a white man and a Native American man. The story, however, is reflective of an internal conflict within Junior himself.
***************************************************************************
***************************************************************************
Rationale:
Inspired by the chapter Red vs White, the red border with the predominantly white background is a symbol for Junior's struggle for cultural and social identity.
Junior often feels separated from both communities for many reasons. One of the most basic things that separates him or makes him different is his huge glasses. Focusing on those lenses (the way he sees the world), we see a quarter in one eye representing the quarter flicked at him during the basketball game against his old school. The beer bottle represents the presence of tragedy and stress that alcoholism brings into Junior's life. The other eye is drawn as a basketball- Junior's way into being cool and accepted at Reardan. It is accompanied by a piece of chicken- Junior's favorite, yet infrequent, meal.
Junior also has an uncommon amount of teeth: 42 to be exact. The crowding of bubble letters in his mouth mirrors the crowding of teeth in Junior's actual mouth. Also, the title is appropriate in his mouth because Junior is the one telling the story.
The cut and bruise on his forehead come from the same basketball match against his old school, the cut given to him by a stranger, and the bruise given to him by his best friend.
The cartoons in the book are replicated in the cartoon style of the cover, intriguing younger readers, and the constant physical wrinkled sketches present in the book are simply balled up here on the cover- those sketches you need to look inside to unfold.