Whale Talk

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Crutcher's (Running Loose; Ironman) gripping tale of small-town prejudice delivers a frank, powerful message about social issues and ills. Representing one-third of his community's minority population ("I'm black. And Japanese. And white"), narrator T.J. Jones voices a darkly ironic appraisal of the high school sports arena. Despite his natural athletic ability (at 13, he qualified for the Junior Olympics in two swimming events), T.J. has steered away from organized sports until his senior year, when Mr. Simet, a favorite English teacher, implores him to help form a swim team for the school (and thereby help the teacher save his job). T.J. sees an opportunity to get revenge on the establishment and invites outcasts to participate on the team; he ends up with "a representative from each extreme of the educational spectrum, a muscle man, a giant, a chameleon, and a psychopath." As might be expected, he accomplishes his mission: his motley crew of swimmers is despised by more conventional athletes (and coaches). The swimmers face many obstacles, but their dedication to their sport and each other grows stronger with every meet. The gradual unfolding of characters' personal conflicts proves to be as gripping as the evolution of the team's efforts. Through T.J.'s narration, Crutcher offers an unusual yet resonant mixture of black comedy and tragedy that lays bare the superficiality of the high school scene. The book's shocking climax will force readers to re-examine their own values and may cause them to alter their perception of individuals pegged as "losers." Ages 12-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

"Featuring narrator T.J. Jones's darkly ironic appraisal of the high school sports arena, this gripping tale of smalltown prejudice delivers a frank, powerful message about social issues and ills," wrote PW in a starred review. Ages 12-up. (Dec.)

KLIATT

This ALA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults was reviewed in KLIATT, March 2001: T.J. is a high school senior of mixed race—black, Japanese, and white—living in the almost all-white small town of Cutter in Washington. He's adopted, but his attitude is "Big deal; so was Superman," and he adores his adoptive parents. Neglect and abandonment by his birth mother has left him with a deep-seated rage and an urge to protect the weak of the world. T.J. is intellectually as well as athletically gifted, but he's always resisted joining any of the school's sports teams: "something in me recoils at being told what to do." When his English teacher asks him to start a swim team, however, T.J. sees the opportunity to help out some underdogs and to spit in the face of the town jocks. He puts together a team of misfits—one is mentally handicapped, one is obese, one is one-legged, and so on—and with the help of the teacher and a friendly man who sleeps in the local health club, the team goes on to triumph, in their own fashion, working hard and bonding as a group. Meanwhile, T.J. has made some powerful enemies, and matters come to a head when a mother and her abused multiracial daughter take refuge in T.J.'s house and an unexpected tragedy ensues. Crutcher (author of Ironman, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes and other YA novels) is one of the best YA authors around. Drawing on his experience as a family therapist and a child protection specialist, he understands the antiauthoritarian anger of teenage boys as well as the sports milieu he writes about so well. Here he tackles racism and prejudice as well as issues of violence, abuse, and forgiveness in a powerful story that will grab readers right away and havethem rooting for the appealing and heroic T.J. Told with passion and humor, this is a real winner. Some profanity and violence. KLIATT Codes: JS*—Exceptional book, recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2001, Random House, Dell Laurel Leaf, 220p.,
— Paula Rohrlick

From The Critics

The narrator of Whale Talk is a The Tao Jones (his given name and pronounced Dow Jones); he is Black, Japanese, and White. The son of a woman who abandoned him when she got heavily into crack and crank, he grew up as a child filled with rage. Now, thanks to the help of a good therapist and good, loving, ex-hippie adoptive parents, T. J. has turned out to a pretty decent and even-keeled human being. One thing he is not and will never be, though, is a conformist. The Tao Jones (T. J.) is particularly sensitive to injustice; when the high school bully and big deal football star taunts brain-damaged Chris Coughlin, who wears his dead brother's football letter jacket, T. J. seeks revenge. His clever weapon of choice is the creation of a high school swim (despite the fact that his school has no pool) so he can prove that a band of school misfits are capable of winning coveted letter jackets, just like the cocky football players. Chris Crutcher writes in a style that reminds me of Stephen King. Although the violence in the book may be unsettling to some, the work does manage to combine craziness and realism to underscore the impact of coming to terms with differences. The swim team, and the togetherness this band of unlikely characters enjoys, help school outcasts find the true acceptance and friendship they've never had before. Kids read Chris Crutcher (Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, Ironman, Athletic Shorts) because his works speak for them; he advocates in a manner that adults should pay attention to, as well. 2001, Greenwillow, 224 pp.,
— Len DeAngelis

VOYA

Cartoon character Pogo's words "We have met the enemy and he is us" chillingly describe Crutcher's latest book in which hatred simmers, boils, and burns its characters. Narrator-protagonist T. J. is multiracial—black/Japanese/white—intellectually and athletically gifted, and sarcastic, his words both hilarious and insightful. T. J. eschews school sports until linebacker Mike harasses mentally handicapped Chris for wearing his deceased brother's team jacket, donning an unearned letter and unwittingly affronting those whose letters were merited. When administrators and the football alumni president condoned Mike, T. J. could not. Three years ago, T. J. had been victimized by Rich, the alumni president, and Mike after hearing them brag of a does they had killed and talk of its still-living fawn. Adopted and anti-hunting, T. J. empathized with the orphaned animal, attempting to rescue it before the animal is killed by the men who then attacked T. J. His response to their cruelty is to wear his bloodied clothes to school for a week. His action was encouraged by his attorney mother, whose practice centers on child abuse cases, and his wise father, a victim of a tragic past and now an advocated for the abused. T. J. now cannily forms a swim team under the guidance of his mentor teacher, although the school lacks a pool. His team, which features "one swimmer of color, a representative from each extreme of the educational spectrum, a muscle man, a giant, a chameleon, and a one-legged psychopath" to further infuriate administrators, practices at a commercial pool using unorthodox methods. As the team swims toward their goal of each member receiving a letter in the sport, administratorswork toward denying them. Meanwhile, T. J.'s family receives custody of Rich's biracial child and becomes the target of his malicious and increasingly unstable behavior that stems from bigotry and anger. Readers should beware—although the ending is foreshadowed, it is shocking and horrifying, yet sadly realistic. Here "Whale Talk"—truth and self-knowledge—emerges, demanding characters' self-realization or change while demonstrating that bigotry plus hate will steal one's soul. Curiously this novel borrows heavily from other works—T. J., the team, and their teacher recollect Ironman (Greenwillow, 1995/VOYA June 1995); the swimming renews Stotan! (Greenwillow, 1986/VOYA April 1986); and the football mentality mirrors Running Loose (Dell, 1983/VOYA April 1983). The reliance on earlier themes might disappoint Crutcher fans, but will not deter them from devouring the book. Crutcher is at his darkest but also his funniest here, and the book conveys his most timely message—forgiveness, not revenge. VOYA CODES: 4Q 5P S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Every YA (who reads) was dying to read it yesterday; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2001, Greenwillow, 219p, . Ages 16 to 18. Reviewer: Lisa A. Spiegel SOURCE: VOYA, June 2001 (Vol. 24, No. 2)

Children's Literature

It is hard enough living with the name The Tao Jones, but seventeen-year-old T. J. is also partially black, white and Japanese. The only thing more diverse than his gene pool is the swim team he assembles for Cutter High. When Chris, a brain-damaged student, gets hassled by super-jock Mike for "illegally" wearing his dead brother's letter jacket, T. J. recruits "a muscle man, a giant, a chameleon, and a one-legged psychopath" to form a team on which Chris can earn his own jacket. Readers will love this unlikely lineup of misfits who practice at the All Night Fitness pool with their custom-tape mix blaring rock, rap and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." A multi-layered plot includes the history behind T. J.'s personal rage, his foster father's bizarre karmic destiny, and an alumnus who makes his mixed-race daughter scrub away her blackness with a Brillo pad. Some of the details seem unbelievable, but readers will be so anxiously anticipating the not-so-predictable showdown between jocks, coaches, and "Cutter Mermen" they won't care. Once again, Crutcher captures perfectly the emotions and humor of teens facing injustices. His sensitive treatment imparts dignity and depth to kids that are different while telling one whale of an entertaining story. 2001, Greenwillow, $15.95 and $15.89. Ages 12 up. Reviewer: Betty Hicks

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-T. J. Jones, the mixed-race, larger-than-life, heroic, first-person narrator of this novel, lays out the events of his senior year, with many digressions along the way. The central plot involves T. J.'s efforts to put together a swim team of misfits, as he tries to upset the balance of power at his central Washington high school, where jocks and the narrow-minded rule. However, a number of subplots deal with racism, child abuse, and the efforts of the protagonist's adopted father to come to grips with a terrible mistake in his past. Crutcher uses a broad brush in an undeniably robust and energetic story that is also somewhat messy and over the top in places. T. J. himself is witty, self-assured, fearless, intelligent, and wise beyond his years. In fact, he has all of these qualities in such abundance that he's not an entirely plausible character. The novel's ending sweeps to a crescendo of emotions, as T. J.'s mentally tortured father saves a life and atones for past sins by diving in front of a bullet and dying in his son's arms. Young adults with a taste for melodrama will undeniably enjoy this effort. More discerning readers will have to look harder for the lovely passages and truths that aren't delivered with a hammer.-Todd Morning, Schaumburg Township Public Library, IL Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

High-school senior The Tao (T.J.) Jones has learned to live with his status as the only student of color in his small, rural high school, but he has never learned to accept the school's suffocating reverence for the athletic establishment. When his ultra-cool English teacher approaches T.J. to swim for the school's brand-new team, T.J. looks beyond the negatives-there is no competition-size pool in town, there are no other competitive swimmers in the school, and he absolutely hates organized sports-to one overwhelming positive: this is his way of giving the finger to the school's stultifying sports culture. He assembles a team of out-and-out losers that would make James Watt proud: "we have one swimmer of color, a representative from each end of the educational spectrum, a muscle man, a giant, a chameleon, and a one-legged psychopath. When I envision us walking seven abreast through the halls of Cutter High, decked out in the sacred blue and gold, my heart swells." There is no shortage of raw emotion in this story. The swim-team members indulge in lengthy informal therapy sessions on their bus trips to away meets, and one subplot involves T.J.'s growing attachment to a little biracial girl whose mother cannot protect her from the vicious racist attacks of her own stepfather-who also happens to be the school's biggest athletic booster. In the hands of a lesser storyteller, the tale would fall apart under its own weight, but Crutcher (Ironman, 1995, etc.) juggles the disparate elements of his plot with characteristic energy, crafting a compulsively readable story that rings true with genuine feeling and is propelled by exhilarating swimming action to anending that is bothcataclysmic and triumphant. A welcome return. (Fiction. YA)