Whale Talk

Dear Chris Crutcher,
I said I would give you another chance after Chinese Handcuffs, which I basically hated. And I was really getting into Whale Talk, despite some animal torture (what is it with you and animal torture?) when you had to go and make me like these characters a lot and then bad things keep happening and I end up crying. What gives, Chris Crutcher? Is it that you like to see people cry? Huh?

Okay, so I liked this one even though it was tragic and sad and infuriating and made me hate people. I give.

Ostensibly about a kid challenging the ruling power of sports at his high school, this story also shows the power of being a part of something. This was a beautiful and difficult read. Difficult because the author shows you all the ways that people are cruel and abusive to other people. Beautiful because most of the characters learn and grow. Crutcher is also very good at writing smart (and smart-ass) teenagers that are entertaining and funny. But seriously, have some tissues handy as you're reading this heart-wrenching and yet hopeful book.

An unusual inspirational novel that touched me far more than I expected it to, although after reading another of Crutcher's novels, "Deadline," I should have anticipated the simple but striking story.

The Tao Jones (abbreviated to T.J. for obvious reasons), is an athlete extraordinaire, although he usually chooses not to show it. But when his English teacher approaches him about starting a swim team at Cutter High, where there isn't even a pool, T.J.'s rebellious, stubborn attitude leads him to latch onto the idea. With intentional carelessness, T.J. recruits the six least likely students to ever succeed on an atheletics team: Dan Hole, a scholar with straight A's, Tay-Roy Kibble, a bodybuilder, Jackie Craig, a silent wallflower, Simon show more DeLong, a three-hundred pound outcast, Chris Coughlin, the autistic younger brother of a deceased high school champion, and Andy Mott, a surly bad boy with a prosthetic leg. Along with T.J., who is a mixed race Japanese-African-American adopted from a negligent mother, they form the Cutter High Mermen, the most unlikely swim team in the history of the close-minded, atheletics-worshipping town.

Dealing with everything from family issues to modern racial prejudice to a inspirational sports story, "Whale Talk" encompasses many themes and sheds wisdom on them all. Each of the characters is realistic, and you come to love and hate them with surprising intensity; the seven members of the Merman are brilliantly endearing in a Breakfast Club sort of way. Crutcher pulls no punches with the hard stuff, but in the end the story is true-to-life; touching on moments of unthinkable cruelty and heartwarming triumph. show less

This book was as funny as it was devastating. I've never read a book by Chris Crutcher and this was so very poignant and articulate in its message that I will be looking for more by Crutcher to read.

At certain parts, I found T.J. a little arrogant for my liking, but he's a popular kid in high school, so I get it. There also were a lot of threads to follow, but it was handled so well by Crutcher that I didn't get too overly confused (some of the names did run together for me though)

My favorite part of this book: a healthy teenage relationship shown as a background to the story. It would have been easy to make it a focus and bring it into the storyline better - but it would have lessened the quality of the book.

Young adult novel about a senior who starts a high school swim team of "misfits." An excellent read that explores racism, prejudice, coming of age, and high school sports. A little darker in places than I was expecting, but very good. Recommended.

There were plenty of places where I had to wipe away a tear after reading sections of this book, particularly in the strength and kindness characters' showed each other after facing cruelty at the hands of other characters and life. The story centers around TJ, a gifted athlete who doesn't buy into the school caste system which places varsity athletes at the center of the universe regardless of the content of their characters. TJ puts together a swim team of those who don't quite fit. Although he does it initially as a way to stick it to the jocks, it turns out that this group forms meaningful bonds. TJ's own family is pretty amazing, his adopted parents open their home to an abused girl just as they did for TJ when he was a toddler. show more TJ's parents, coaches, and counselor, are pretty amazing role models. Over and over again the adults remind TJ that when people behave badly, even evilly, it points to a cycle of abuse. Crutcher's work as a child and family therapist is a clear influence throughout the book. It's a layered narrative that woven together makes a complex, emotional story. show less

Summary and Evaluation: TJ is an athletically-talented senior at Cutter High who refuses to take part in what he sees as a deeply screwed up athletics system. He’s also a victim of childhood neglect, adopted, and black/asian/white mixed in an almost all-white in Washington state. When he’s tapped (and bullied) by a teacher who wants to create a swim team, TJ sees it as an opportunity to enfranchise all the misfits with the most coveted symbol in the high school social stratum: a letter jacket. I picked this book up because I wanted to add a sports book to my roster; normally, I wouldn’t read a sports book unless the sport was jousting or chess. But this title was really compelling, possibly because I know the rules of swimming (go show more faster than everyone else), or because of its focus on outsider athletes, or because the book is more a drama around psychological issues than sports performance. From the way that every character has Issues, and the way those Issues are interrogated and explained, it’s pretty clear that Crutcher was a psych major, but it doesn’t detract too much from the book. What does detract is the final conclusion of the book; although the secondary plot was building toward the father’s death throughout, it still felt very cheap. All the same, TJ’s voice and character were well-constructed; I was able to largely forget that I would probably have loathed him as a peer.
Booktalk Hook: Probably tapping into the upturning social hierarchy of high school themes of the book would be the way to sell it. Also, in some contexts and with some audiences, talking about the issues of abuse, adoption, and race would be a good way to get readers interested. show less