Whale Talk

Crutcher, Chris. Whale Talk. Greenwillow Books: 2001. ISBN: 9780061771316.

Plot Summary:
The Dao Jones or T.J. for short is part Japanese and part African American. His life started out with neglect and abandonment. T.J.'s mom was a meth addict and did not take care of him, only feeding him when she was hungry and leaving him alone in soiled diapers for days. When he was two, she finally walked away for good and T.J. was adopted by a strong, loving family. With the help of a therapist named Georgia, T.J. has been able to work through many of his demons, but as a senior in high school, he is still not in complete command of his emotions. Disgusted at the jock culture and the administrations obvious support, T.J. and English teacher, Mr. Simet start a swim team with students who are unlikely athletes and with issues like mental retardation, serial killer tendencies, obesity, and one leg. The goal is to earn a coveted letter jacket and bring the stud football players down a peg or two. Plans don't always work out accordingly and the Cutter High School Mermen are no exception. The swim team grows and learns in ways they did not imagine and get to know themselves and each other better.

Evaluation:
T.J. is a really likable protagonist. He is honest, moral and has a strong sense of justice. Told in first person, we always know what T.J. is thinking and get to know him really well. Being seventeen, his sense of justice isn't always carried out in the safest or smartest ways. Growing up as a minority defines T.J.'s life, he is one of a few citizens that are 'of color' in the entire town. This book is a great example to people who claim racism is not a problem in America any more. Unfortunately, there will always be bigots among us, and our job is to remain steadfast and strong. There is a lot of wisdom about life and understanding people throughout this book. It is easy to see Chris Crutcher's background as a therapist. There was so much heartache and trauma in the novel, that I knew something awful had to happen and the ending would not be happy.

Reader's Annotation:
Life is full of good moments and difficult moments, our character is based on which moment we store in our hearts.

Bibliotherapeutic Uses:
Any high schooler can connect with the jock mentality in this novel. Not every school is as bad as Cutter High School, but many campuses elevate athletes to an unhealthy status. This is just as detrimental to the athlete as to the rest of the student population. Many themes are covered in this story of unlikely students earning coveted letter jackets: loss, abuse, racism, neglect to name a few. T.J. shows us that we can overcome our past experiences and not let them define us and make our present choices based on who we want to be, not who we were.

Genre:
Issue Novel

Why I Included This Book:
I heard Chris Crutcher speak at an Iowa Library Conference a few years ago. He related the incident with Heidi trying to scrub the color off of her arm and it has stuck with me since.