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.

( )

Apart from this book being a drawn-out macho after-school special, it wasn't the worst. It just wasn't for me. ( )

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 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. ( )

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. ( )