Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
T.J. Jones is athletically gifted, but refuses to participate in organized sports. Fiercely independent and infuriated by injustice, T.J. hatches a plan to stick it to his high school's athletic pride after he witnesses a football player bullying a mentally disabled student for wearing his dead brother's letter jacket.
With the help of his English teacher, who has been told he needs to coach a sport, T.J. recruits a whole team of misfits for a swim team. Through the rigorous training and extended bus trips, T.J.'s collection of misfits gradually get to know each other and become a team.
Many issues arise, among them racism, child abuse, bullying, and guilt and redemption. One of Crutcher's best!
With the help of his English teacher, who has been told he needs to coach a sport, T.J. recruits a whole team of misfits for a swim team. Through the rigorous training and extended bus trips, T.J.'s collection of misfits gradually get to know each other and become a team.
Many issues arise, among them racism, child abuse, bullying, and guilt and redemption. One of Crutcher's best!
Whale Talk is the story of TJ, a young black teenager in a small, rural town in Eastern Washington state. TJ is extremely athletic, but hates the sports programs at his high school because they are too competitive and petty. TJ gets roped into creating the school's first swim team. However, to spite everyone at his school, he only invites the schools biggest social outcasts to participate. The story follows the relationship between all the boys on the team and unveils the demons that all of the boys face in their personal lives. TJ learns more about the harsh realities of life and how to personally find hope despite all of the suffering in the world.
I don't typically like sports books, but I did enjoy this book a lot. It touched on complex themes and even opened my eyes to certain issues such as abuse and racism that I hadn't considered before. This book is often censored for bad language, and extremely graphic scenes. However, I felt that all of the "vulgarity" found in the novel was productive. I would recommend this book to older teenagers who understand that there will be disturbing scenes and intense language.
Content warnings:
Language
Vulgarity
Sexual References
Racism
Abuse
Violence
Graphic scenes
I don't typically like sports books, but I did enjoy this book a lot. It touched on complex themes and even opened my eyes to certain issues such as abuse and racism that I hadn't considered before. This book is often censored for bad language, and extremely graphic scenes. However, I felt that all of the "vulgarity" found in the novel was productive. I would recommend this book to older teenagers who understand that there will be disturbing scenes and intense language.
Content warnings:
Language
Vulgarity
Sexual References
Racism
Abuse
Violence
Graphic scenes
This book is a beast! Why has it taken me this long to read anything by Chris Crutcher?!
First off, the title of the book has a lot to do with one of its huge themes: We understand what it means to be human through the stories we tell each other.
The title makes me think of the phrase, "real talk." Example: "I'm done with facebook. All it does is cause drama-real talk." Ever notice that when someone ends what they are saying with "real talk", they are are trying to emphasize a life lesson? The notion of whale talk being used as a metaphor for trying to understand humanity is gorgeous.
Though Crutcher does try to balance the violence with humor, your heart will break over and over again. Thankfully, the protagonist, The Tao Jones, is a force to be reckoned with.
I would recommend this book to mature middle school readers and up. It could also be used to hook boys who identify themselves as non readers (especially if they seem themselves as athletic too), but I would have them read it along with one other person for support.
First off, the title of the book has a lot to do with one of its huge themes: We understand what it means to be human through the stories we tell each other.
The title makes me think of the phrase, "real talk." Example: "I'm done with facebook. All it does is cause drama-real talk." Ever notice that when someone ends what they are saying with "real talk", they are are trying to emphasize a life lesson? The notion of whale talk being used as a metaphor for trying to understand humanity is gorgeous.
Though Crutcher does try to balance the violence with humor, your heart will break over and over again. Thankfully, the protagonist, The Tao Jones, is a force to be reckoned with.
I would recommend this book to mature middle school readers and up. It could also be used to hook boys who identify themselves as non readers (especially if they seem themselves as athletic too), but I would have them read it along with one other person for support.
I love all the Crutcher books--the good guys always win. This one was a little bit different; felt a little bit more flip than the others did. When you read enough Crutcher, you go into it for deep, deep satisfaction. This one had more tears than usual.
This book was one hell of a ride and it wasn’t heavily focused on swimming, but I expected that. However, I didn’t expect how dark it was, and how relevant it still is to this day, which is the insane thing about it.
This is one of my all-time favorite books. It looks at hard things for teens, and even though it's a bit dated because of the references, the overall message is clear: care about people.
I just. God, I love this book so much. I can't even make coherent sentences about it.
I just. God, I love this book so much. I can't even make coherent sentences about it.
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.
Amazing!! For YA fiction this and other Crutcher books have an amazing appeal and relatability for adults as well. So important though for YAs to read.
Like everything Crutcher writes, this book is relentless, shocking, and ultimately hopeful. I just have one question.
T.J. Jones is mixed-race. Racist hatred of him and other mixed-race characters is integral to the story. Why the hell is there a white boy on the cover?
T.J. Jones is mixed-race. Racist hatred of him and other mixed-race characters is integral to the story. Why the hell is there a white boy on the cover?
I forgot how much I loved The Tao. 26 pgs in and ugly crying. 2/6/17