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Title: Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher ISBN: 0-440-22938-3 Publisher: Laurel-Leaf Books Pub. Date: 10 December, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.59 (56 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A new personal best from a YA literary titan.
Comment: It should come as no surprise that the newest book by Chris Crutcher, young adult literature titan, sets new ground as far as excellence is concerned.
In the recently released "Whale Talk," Crutcher does exactly what he has done before, in such books as "The Crazy Horse Electric Game," "Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes," and "Ironman."
Thank God. A true master realizes you don't mess with perfection.
On the surface, the story is simple. It's only upon further examination that the complexities are revealed.
The Tao Jones (call him TJ) is a high schooler of mixed Japanese and African-American race, the adopted son of a white couple composed of a sophisticated lawyer and a former trucker, and a gifted swimmer. When a controversy arises over letterman's jackets, TJ finds himself putting together a swim team right out of "The Far Side."
There's a kid whose mother's boyfriend wrapped his face in saran wrap as a baby to stop him from crying, and cut off the oxygen from his brain. There's also a guy who is just enormous and not built for the water, a virtual ghost who never says a word, an assistant coach who is living in a 24-hour gym to put his son through college, a studly guy who attracts the female crowd, an absolute brainiac, and a one-legged psychopath.
Intertwined with the humor that arises from such a situation is the story of Crutcher's characters' lives. TJ is at odds with a local maniac, who just happens to be the abusive white stepfather of a half-African-American little girl. When things get to be too much at home, TJ and his family take Heidi in, which doesn't please the nutcase.
Crutcher effortlessly bounces between swim team and home struggles, as the psycho grows more and more desperate to get his family back and the team must overcome their apparent loser status to become champions.
Sounds pretty cut and dry, doesn't it? You think you know what's going to happen, don't you? You're wrong.
Crutcher adeptly finds a balance between comedy and drama, and heroes and heartbreak in "Whale Talk," which has surpassed "Sarah Byrnes" as my favorite Crutcher tale. You will laugh one moment, and cry the next. (Especially during the Happy Meal scene between Heidi and TJ's father. That one's going to get talked about for ages to come.)
I said before that Crutcher is doing with "Whale Talk" exactly what he has always done in his other works. Which is not entirely true. One gets the idea that Crutcher is testing the waters with many aspects of the new novel, seven years in the writing. There are parts in "Whale Talk" that are more gruesome, more hilarious and more touching, and which reach new heights.
Other, lesser critics will call "Whale Talk" formulaic. But Crutcher knows better than to fix what's not broken.
Instead, he only plays with it to come up with his best offering yet. Crutcher went outside his comfort zone and outside the comfort zones of his readers.
The result is the equivalent of a chef taking an old favorite recipe, throwing in some new spices and whipping up a zesty new dish on the brink of perfection.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Great Read from Cover to Cover
Comment: Chris Crutcher did an excellent job of writing a book that will interest a wide variety of readers. This book has something for both genders and for both young adults and adults. Whale Talk is refreshingly funny but also takes a serious look at human nature.
T.J. Jones finds himself to be the center of controversy in more ways than one. T.J. is seventeen years old and has been the dream from many coaches through his school years. Although he is a tremendous athlete, he rejects the idea of ever being a part of organized sports which infuriates these coaches. All this is until the day Coach Simet apporaches T.J. to be a part of a new swim team at Cutter High School. T.J. reluctantly agrees after realizing a swim team could help him make a statement to some people he doesn't like.
Being a part of this swim team changes T.J. throughout the year. For those of you who can relate to the 80's this swim team reminds me of the Rat Pack in "The Breakfast Club." These are seven guys you would never match together for any athletic event but end up being more of a team than T.J. had planned for.
Not only does this book take you on an athletic journey but it takes you on a journey in family life and relationships. Through his family, T.J. learns a true lesson in compassion and forgiveness.
This is a hard book to put down. It will make you laugh as these seven misfits find their place on Cutter's swim team but will also teach you a lesson on having compassion for people around you who are different. Sometimes, like T.J., compassion is learned the hard way.
Rating: 5
Summary: english project
Comment: Picture your high school's outcasts, the kids no one talks to and no one really knows. Now imagine if you heard that this motley crew was about to become your high school's new varsity swim team. The same kids who are picked last for every team in gym, who has never been seen near the weight room or the track, who are the last people you would imagine wearing your high school letter jackets. Despite his natural athletic ability, the main character T. J. has always shunned Cutter High School's sports teams because, as he says, "something inside me recoils at being told what to do, and that doesn't sit well with most coaches, who are paid to do exactly that." However, when a favorite teacher asks him to help start a swim team at Cutter, T. J. sees an opportunity to turn the school's narrow idea of what an athlete is, privileged, good-looking, white, and male on its head.
Chris Crutcher is an excellent writer that keeps you reading. I could not put the book down. The reason why I liked the book so much is that it is dramatic, had a good conflict and kept me reading. Whale Talk is an awesome book that I would recommend to anyone.
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Title: Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn ISBN: 0064472574 Publisher: HarperTempest Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson ISBN: 014131088X Publisher: Speak Pub. Date: 01 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $8.99 |
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Title: You Don't Know Me by David Klass ISBN: 0064473783 Publisher: HarperTempest Pub. Date: 06 August, 2002 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher ISBN: 0060094893 Publisher: HarperTempest Pub. Date: 18 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares ISBN: 0385730586 Publisher: Delacorte Press Pub. Date: 11 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $8.95 |
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