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Whale Talk
I have just recently read Whale Talk, by author Chris Crutcher. This book tells how if someone wants something bad enough then they can do it. It tells that you don’t have to go with the crowd and what everyone else thinks you should do. This book is part adventure and part drama. Is shows the adventure part when the Cutter High School swimming team has to win challenges in order to achieve the letterman’s jacket. It also shows adventure in the fighting scenes. It also shows drama in many places. It shows drama when discrimination sets people apart from each other. There are many conflicts between the main character (T.J.) and other characters in his surroundings. Chris Crutcher writes in a style fit for teenagers. He writes mostly about teenagers playing sports. His ‘’voice’’ also corresponds with that of a teenager’s. He uses the language that most teenagers use today. He also adds in some comedy to help make the story more ‘’readable’’ for many teenagers. I like his writings because it fits well with my likings. I like to read about sports and other stories of teenagers in high school. I can honestly say that Whale Talk is the best book I have ever read. One sentence used in the book to help my point of comedy and teenager talk is when a character that was riding on a bus that crashed into a ditch said, ‘’Damn, I been on drug trips that weren’t that good.’’(pg. 104). A sentence that really added drama is when T.J.’s father just told his son that a long time ago when he was driving his semi truck, he pulled out of a parking lot and there was a little boy that crawled into his back tires. He took off and killed the little boy without knowing until 6 hours later. His father said, ‘’ I thought I’d have to kill myself, just to end the pain.’’(pg. 59). I thought the strength of this book is the actual conflicts between T.J. and the other characters. It makes the story more exciting. The weaknesses of this book are the story behind T.J.’s biological parents and the story of Mike Barbour, the other character in which T.J. is in conflict with. I recommend this book for anyone to read. This book is most suitable for teenagers in high school that plays sports because this book mainly is about teenagers in high school that form a swim team. It also could be suitable for outcasts because the group of guys that form the swim team are considered to be outcasts at their high school. Chris Crutcher was born on July 17, 1946 in Dayton, Ohio but was raised in Cascade, Idaho. Chris did not like to read when he was in high school. He didn’t think that he would ever become a writer. Crutcher received a bachelor’s degree in psychology/sociology. Crutcher has also worked with children through most of his life. He started writing when he was around 35 years old, and found out that he loved it. He writes about serious conditions but still adds some comedy into it. The setting takes place in a small town in Idaho. It is a lot like the world I know because they have a high school that they go to and homes that they live in. The characters live in about an everyday life just like anyone else. This setting helps to give the angry teenager appearance to T.J. and the other characters. The setting helps give off the small town scene when the whole town cares about the high school sports that are played there, mainly football. Then the swimming team comes along and gives the town another team to encourage. The main character is T.J. Jones. He is an all-star athlete but does not play for any of the school sports teams. He helps defends harmless people, and animals in one situation in the book, from mean bull-headed jocks of the school. Chris Coughlin is another character that plays a not-all-there person who is picked on by Mike Barbour because he wears his dead brother’s letterman’s jacket. Chris joins T.J.’s group of swimming outcasts. Mike Barbour is a football jock that picks on things that are smaller from him. He says that the letterman’s jacket should only be worn by ‘’true athletes’’. Mike and T.J. have many confrontations throughout the book. The main story behind this book is that T.J. wants to form a swimming team to show the jocks that people like Chris Coughlin have just as much of a chance to earn a letterman’s jacket than anybody. T.J. and his band of outcasts wants to prove once and for all that they can make things out of themselves and can stand up to people like Mike Barbour. Bookhooks report by Justin S.
of Crestview Local/Columbiana County/ Ohio/ US
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Number of Pages: 220
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