Angry Management

As Crutcher himself has said, grief must be written in its native language or else it will ring false. This trio of stories speaks grief in tongues, both audible and covert. The plots are a little too neatly constructed for my taste, but Crutcher's gifts for voice and establishing true-to-life dramas are a pleasure to manage.

Chris Crutcher gets it right--the anger, the hurt, the prejudice, the fear, the love, the forgiveness--that modern teens face. His books are often censored for topic or language by folks who cannot tolerate an open point of view, and that's too bad. These three novellas, reuniting various characters from other works, allow life resolutions for those characters. Some are good, and some are not--I cried through the ending of one. And, yes to an earlier review posted here, such things happen in small towns. They also happen in large cities, which is why it is important to be able to read and share these stories.

This is actually like three novellas, loosely strung together as six teens under the care of the same therapist. The characters are all characters from his other novels. An interesting exercise.

The third story, Meet me at the Gate, Marcus James, was by far the most powerful. Gripping is the better word. The first two were good enough, but did not get into my head the way Marcus James did.

An interesting aside: Matt Miller, a dedicated Christian, is portrayed in a positive light. His contribution to the action is the product of his commitment to do the right thing, and the struggle he has with the events that unfold and the sanctioned injustices that permeate the community. It is always nice to see Christians portrayed in a positive show more light.

I would recommend the book as a whole, but especially Meet me at the Gate, Marcus James for all but the faint of heart.

(Strong language, violence, sexual situations) show less

Chris Crutcher has resurrected characters from previous books and short stories in the three novellas comprising Angry Management, the nickname of a teen counseling group. Misfits Sarah Byrnes, facially scarred by her abusive father, and obese Angus Bethune, with two sets of gay parents, find each other and some insights on their respective lives. Liberal minded Montana West battles her conservative father and the school board, which he heads, over freedom of the high school student press. Additionally she must advocate for her emotionally stunted five year old foster sister who her controlling father wants to return to the foster care system. The only black and openly gay student in his high school, Marcus James confronts bigotry, show more primarily in the form of Roger Marshall, whose family has a history of bigotry and violence. He is aided by an unexpected source, fellow student Matt Miller, a devout Christian who barely knows Marcus.

There is nothing new in Angry Management, but that is fine. It is Crutcher, in his inimitable fashion, denouncing bigotry and hatred, advocating for abused children, and promoting constitutional freedoms. Readers may not remember some of the characters, but that does not matter. The stories are well written, action packed, engrossing and at times humorous. Readers will root for some characters, despise some and some will tug at their emotions. Characters are portrayed realistically and not all stories have happy, storybook endings. However, Crutcher infuses the endings with hope. A good introduction to Crutcher, Angry Management will certainly please current fans as well. show less

Reviewed by Angie Fisher for TeensReadToo.com

Google Chris Crutcher, and chances are one of the first topics to pop up will be censorship. That alone is cause for this reviewer to pick up his books.

A therapist and child advocate, Crutcher is one of the finest authors I've read for teens. He not only uses real experiences with real adolescents to form his characters, he hits young adult reality fiction right on. Crutcher is honest, straightforward, and not afraid to tackle the hard subjects coming-of-age lessons forge. And boy, do kids respond.

ANGRY MANAGEMENT is Crutcher's latest novel. Built out of three novellas involving some familiar characters from past books, adolescents and grown ups alike who can't appreciate the honesty and raw show more emotion brought forth from these characters do so out of fear of today's reality.

The novellas are connected by Mr. Nak's (IRONMAN, 1995, HarperCollins) Angry Management group, a place where teens who don't follow the norm meet to tell their stories. The stories they've lived from the cards they've been dealt.

Anger is most definitely a theme in these pages, but so are love and prejudice, freedom of religion and abuse. Hope and survival. Crutcher has a way of pulling at the deep, raw emotion we all possess, especially for kids, and bringing it to the surface. No wonder so many find his work threatening. show less

I really liked this book and may just sit down and read it again. I will also read all of his books again this summer. Teachers could do an entire class on this book alone.
I thought the novellas tied together very well through themes - first amendment rights, bigotry, prejudice, you name it! The characters were so strong! I loved them all.
The Psychologist observations added a nice touch of humor.

Chris Chrutcher has brought characters from his previous books together at the same age we left them. It lets us revisit how hurt, damaged teens manage to push on and past the adults who have done unspeakable things to them. Amazingly, the best help they get is from each other instead of professional, trained adults.