Chris Crutcher is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. His character development is wonderful and his plot can never be predicted.
In Whale Talk, we follow TJ Jones, an underachieving athletic star, as he attempts to get varsity letter jackets for the newly founded swimming team at Cutter High School in Spokane. TJ, who has been shunned by the school's athletes (specifically the football players), gathers a group of outcasts and trains with them the earn the coveted jackets.
TJ's home life is equally complicated. He is adopted, and his parents serve as foster parents for other children. The Jones' foster a girl named Heidi, a biracial daughter of a white woman, Alicia, who is in a relationship with the racist, Rich Marshall. You could probably guess that abuse and racism take a front seat in Whale Talk.
To those of us raised in the diverse, modern America, the world of Cutter is infuriating. Racism, physical and mental abuse and distrust all abound. TJ is pushed repeatedly in order to prove to his school athletics board that the swim team deserves letter jackets. He compassionately tries to help Heidi understand that there is nothing wrong with being biracial (TJ is Asian/African/European American himself). The ending of this book is difficult in many ways but there are a few heart-warming twists. It is easliy one of my favorite reads this year.
Availible at Barnes & Noble and Amazon (in paperback and Kindle format). ISBN# 9780440229384
In Whale Talk, we follow TJ Jones, an underachieving athletic star, as he attempts to get varsity letter jackets for the newly founded swimming team at Cutter High School in Spokane. TJ, who has been shunned by the school's athletes (specifically the football players), gathers a group of outcasts and trains with them the earn the coveted jackets.
TJ's home life is equally complicated. He is adopted, and his parents serve as foster parents for other children. The Jones' foster a girl named Heidi, a biracial daughter of a white woman, Alicia, who is in a relationship with the racist, Rich Marshall. You could probably guess that abuse and racism take a front seat in Whale Talk.
To those of us raised in the diverse, modern America, the world of Cutter is infuriating. Racism, physical and mental abuse and distrust all abound. TJ is pushed repeatedly in order to prove to his school athletics board that the swim team deserves letter jackets. He compassionately tries to help Heidi understand that there is nothing wrong with being biracial (TJ is Asian/African/European American himself). The ending of this book is difficult in many ways but there are a few heart-warming twists. It is easliy one of my favorite reads this year.
Availible at Barnes & Noble and Amazon (in paperback and Kindle format). ISBN# 9780440229384
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