Whale Talk

Whale Talk

Chris Crutcher

304 pgs

Greenwillow Books (2009)

Subject Matter: high school, swimming, emotional and physical abuse, emotions and feelings, racism

T.J. Jones is a high school student who is often racially discriminated against. When an upperclassman bullies a mentally handicapped student named Chris T.J. stands up for what is right. The consensus is that in order to wear a letterman's jacket the jacket must be earned, so T.J. starts up a swim team so that Chris can earn his own jacket. The swim team is made up of a handful of high school misfits who no one would think to put in a pool together. The small team bonds together as they practice in the local fitness center's pool and the long bus rides to and from swim meets, sharing their hurts and pains that have made them who they are.

Review: I loved this book. With more than one message entwined in a story of a team of misfits who seem to define high school, this book tells more than a story, it tells of characters who become close to a reader's heart. Chris Crutcher has a unique way of making his characters characterize themselves into stereotypes we all know in high school but never know what made these people the way they are. Crutcher gives an insider's view to what these kids go through to surface in high school and to be known the way they are.

Now You Know: There is a lot of colorful and strong language, scenes of violence, and a tear jerking ending.