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Chinese Handcuffs
The book entitled Chinese Handcuffs written by Chris Crutcher describes the complicated lives of three Chief Joseph High School students Dillon Heminway, Jennifer Lawless, and Stacy Ryder, who live in Three Forks. Through out this realistic fiction novel, the secrets of their lives are revealed, and they struggle to overcome these obstacles. Even though these events are not based on a real person’s life, they could happen within our society today. Overcoming hardships and keeping them in the past is the major theme represented in various situations through out the book. Dillon Hemingway, one of the main characters, is trying to recover from his brother Preston’s suicide. To deal with the problems he has faced since his brother’s suicide, Dillon started writing letters to him. Dillon is a cocky 16 year old boy, and he is also an all- star athlete, who runs triathlons and is a trainer for the girls’ basketball team. One time while writing to his brother Dillon said, “Actually part of what I just wrote was a lie: I do like to brag.”(pg.18) This is an example of his cocky personality. While his brother was living, Dillon always believed that his brother’s girlfriend should be with him instead. Now Dillon is struggling to find out whether he actually loves his brother’s old girlfriend Stacy or Jennifer Lawless. Dillon helps his friends through tough times while dealing with his own hardships and comes out with friends who are closer to him than ever before. Although Jennifer Lawless is the top girls’ basketball player, and one would think that she has a great life with everything going for her, she is hiding a horrible secret that haunts her past and present. Her secret keeps her from becoming close to and open with the people she considers friends, and she now resents her mom. Jennifer says, “I hate that I love her.”(pg.129) Eventually Jennifer’s secret unfolds and with the help from people who really care about her, she is able to overcome the horror in her life. Stacy Ryder, Dillon’s brother’s girlfriend, is another main character. Stacy is caring for a baby that she said her parents adopted, but that’s not completely true. She has been Dillon’s friend for a long time, and she finally reveals a secret that she has been trying to conceal. This secret will change the lives of some people forever. Chinese Handcuffs was very interesting and suspenseful. The book shows how even though life gets tough sometimes you can overcome these troubles with determination and help from friends. Even though you think your life might be bad sometimes, you can see how bad some lives actually are. This book focuses on the lives and tragedies faced by teenagers, so therefore I think it is better suited for a teenage audience. Chris Crutcher’s writing shows Dillon’s viewpoints by expressing them in his journal writings to his brother. These journal writings are in first person, and Dillon explains the events occurring in his life. At points through out the book the narrator is writing in third person because he is the one writing about the characters’ lives. The author also expresses the tragic events in Jennifer’s life through flashbacks that occur while she is sleeping. I liked seeing the events from the characters point of view. Chris Crutcher wrote Chinese Handcuffs “ because of his experience as an athlete, educator, and children’s therapist.” He was always involved in sports when he was young and was a teacher at one point in his life. Because of these things Chris Crutcher enjoys writing about young adults who overcome tragic events in their lives. “He is currently a therapist and a children’s protection advocate.” Bookhooks report by Caitlin Crowell
of Columbiana, Ohio, USA
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Number of Pages: 219
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