Thursday, February 27, 2020

Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher

Title: Whale Talk
Author: Chris Crutcher
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Publication Date: September 22, 2009 (originally April 10, 2001)

Format: eBook
Price: $9.99
Page Count: 352
ISBN-13: 9780061968532

Reading Level: Grades 9 and up (ages 14+)
Lexile: 1000L
Interest Level: Grades 9 and up (ages 14+)

Annotation: A bunch of misfits come together and form a swim team to annoy and trouble their school's stuck-up athletics program.

Plot and Content Summary: Although The Tao Jones (known as TJ for short) is physically built to be an athlete, he refuses to join any school teams. Since his school is prided on athletic achievements, all the coaches are frustrated with his refusal to participate. However, his English teacher convinces (read: somewhat bribes) TJ to start a swim team and be the leader. TJ ends up agreeing to it, recruiting six students and forming a strange combination of misfits. One member includes Chris Coughlin, a disabled student who wears his brother's letterman jacket in remembrance after losing him in an accident. He is bullied by Mike Barbour, one of the school's star athletes, for doing this, so TJ makes it his goal to have his team meet all the letterman requirements to shut everyone up.

Evaluation: Whale Talk felt like a hodgepodge of stories all over the place, with Crutcher undecided on what exactly he wanted to say. Although the writing style was nothing to write home about, the plot was admittedly interesting. As we follow TJ in his search to form of a swim team, there are a few side stories involving TJ's father's past and a biracial child, Heidi, that TJ's therapist sees and eventually asks him to help with. Actually, Heidi's story leads toward the end, with racism being a large focus. Even though I would not recommend this book to anyone, I still acknowledge the value of the themes presented in Whale Talk. It is admirable that Crutcher would tackle controversial issues, such as bullying and racism, but the story itself, stripped from these things, does not stand out in any way.

Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness: Whale Talk discusses many issues, one being racial discrimination. One character, Rich Marshall, was trying to brainwash his wife's half-black child and teach her that being black was not a good thing. He renamed her "Heidi" and told her she should work on scrubbing her skin so the color would lighten. Luckily, Heidi had people in her life to rid that wrong. Although being proud no matter her skin color was not a strong point in this book, teens will hopefully see the harm of telling someone they are not worthy anything if their skin color is not white. Heidi was loved by people outside her family that did not share her same skin color, and hopefully that speaks to everyone who picks up Whale Talk and wishes they were born differently.

Issues Present: Bullying, racial discrimination, high use of profanity

Whale Talk was challenged for racism and offensive language in 2005. These are two things that still happen today, in the year 2020, and it should not be hidden from teen's eyes. For teens who do not have first-hand exposure to this in real life due to whatever circumstances, this is a reality check. There are, unfortunately, people out there who say hurtful things. Secondly, for teens who talk and think like Rich Marshall, this will hopefully reveal to them the impact of their words. Explicitly seeing and exposing this true hate can open teens' eyes to recognize why it is dangerous. Adults should not think teens are not smart enough to recognize hate for what it is.

Book Talk Ideas: ""Over and over I tell you, racism is—" "Ignorance," I say back. The sound of running water brings our attention to Heidi in the kitchen, squeezing dish soap into the filling basin. She pulls herself up onto the lip, stretching to snag a bristle brush, then begins scrubbing her arms. Georgia sighs, closes her eyes, whispers, "She thinks if she can wash it off, her daddy will love her."" (p. 94-95)

  • Who is Rich Marshall, and what type of person is he meant to portray? How does his tone of speech and choice of words show you who he is?
  • TJ's father tells him that "whale talk is the truth" (p. 179). What does that mean?

Genre/Subgenres: Realistic fiction; First person narratives

Readalikes: Winger by Andrew Smith, Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar, Crackback by John Coy

References
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