Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that while he carefully avoids language, sex, violence, etc. in his own story, the author refers to it in other stories. Crutcher is being deliberately provocative here in a way that will trouble some parents, especially religious fundamentalists. He also loads the deck pretty heavily -- this is a diatribe, not an invitation to two-sided discussion.
Nevertheless, discussion topics abound: censorship, church/state division, racism, and more. Parents can ask their kids if it's ever right to ban a book, if there should be any restrictions on what children read, if religion has a place in school, and where the rights of each individual and family begin and end.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Matt Berman
Chris Crutcher is mad as, well, heck, and he's not going to take it anymore. All of his previous books have been the target of censorship efforts, and here he is taking on would-be banners directly, in a book in which they will find no bad language or sex acts or violence, but the content of which is designed to be objectionable to them anyway. The whole book is Crutcher's way of saying, "Come and get me."
Unfortunately, as is almost always the case when an author has a Point to make, the Point often comes before the story. Too much of the book consists of characters acting as the author's mouthpieces and spouting speeches. Though the author at one point makes a halfhearted nod to evenhandedness, this is an angry diatribe cloaked in humor, which doesn't make for three-dimensional characters or much emotional involvement on the part of the reader. But it's a mostly enjoyable read nonetheless, and it addresses a compelling issue in a way that will get kids talking.
From the Book:
The reverend is a fire-and-brimstone, eye-for-an-eye kind of preacher who can make a simple thing such as being a sinner seem like taking center stage in a Stephen King novel. Under normal circumstances a sinner could avoid him by simply staying away from his church, but he's also one of three Bear Creek High School English teachers, so unless you drop out of school after junior high to work in the lumber mill, he'll get his hands on you.
You start hearing about Tarter around fifth grade, and the day you hear bout him is a good day to start worrying. He is the king of creative discipline.
Plot Summary:
Eddie has a lot to deal with. His father and his best friend, Billy, are both killed accidentally within a month, and Eddie is the one who finds both bodies. Now he's being haunted by Billy, who also is the narrator of the story. His mother is being drawn further in to a fundamentalist church, led by Reverend Tarter, who is a busy guy: he is also an English teacher at Eddie's school, is trying to manipulate Eddie into joining the saved, and is working with his congregation to get a book banned at school.
That book, Warren Peece is a fake book by the real author of this book, Chris Crutcher, who becomes a character in his own book when he gets involved in the effort to stop the banning. And that book happens to be the only meaningful thing Eddie has found to help him deal with his grief. So Eddie, though he hasn't spoken since he found Billy's body, is determined to save the book, and take down the Reverend at the same time.
Related Books:
Other Books by Chris Crutcher
Whale Talk
Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes
Ironman
Athletic Shorts
Running Loose
Stotan!
Books About Banning Books
The Last Safe Place on Earth by Richard Peck
The Trials of Molly Sheldon by Julian F. Thompson
Memoirs of a Bookbat by Kathryn Lasky
The Year they Burned the Books by Nancy Garden
The Day they Came to Arrest the Book by Nat Hentoff
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
A Small Civil War by John Neufeld
Related Website
Chris Crutcher's website
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Sexual ContentMasturbation and abortion are mentioned. A gay character comes out. |
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ViolenceA man and a boy are killed in accidents. An abusive parent. |
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LanguageReferences to curse words, but none actually used. |
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Social BehaviorVarious teen problems, such as anorexia and cutting, are mentioned. Racism among religious zealots. |
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CommercialismNewman popcorn mentioned. |
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