Rating: 
Summary: Anti-Machoism
Review: "It is the mark of an imature man to want to die for his cause but it is the mark of a mature man to want to live humbly for his." Even though I cannot recall who said that quote, it describes this book perfectly. Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher, is the story of a teenager named The Tao who lives in the upper Northwest of the United States. He is unlike most of the other guys in his town because he does buy into the macho-racism that dominates the town. He, instead of believing that the way to live is by hating those who are weaker than you are and beating your wife, believes that everyone should be treated equally. It is because of these beliefs that when he sees a smaller dorky boy, named Chris, being beaten on ny jocks for wearing his dead brother's varsity jacket, he decides to take action. He formulates a plan which is sure to infuriate the athletes in the upper stratosphere of high-school fame: getting Chris, and other random misfit teens, a varsity letter and jacke (this benevolance most likely stems from The Tao's own experiences of abuse at the hands of druggie parents). To accomplish this task, he forms a swim team, the Mermen. This team suprises a lot of people and agers many, also. In the end, however, the team ends up effecting everyone's lives forever, for they learn that the above quote is undeniably true. One character that stands out in my mind which makes this book special is The Tao's non-biological father, who was at one time a truck driver. There is one event tht occurs when he is a truck driver that is the turning point in the man's life. He spends the rest of his life trying to correct his wrongs. I recommend this book to everyone for the message delivered in the story is universal: everyone grows up with obstacles, but you must learn to be mature enough to handle these obstacles.
Rating: 
Summary: Whale Talk
Review: This is a great book after getting past the first few chapters. The book draws you in and keeps you reading in order to find out what happens.
Rating:
Summary: A Whale of a Book
Review: I rated this book 4 stars only because of the slow start. It took me the first several chapters to get into the story, but after that I was hooked. Chris Crutcher has done a phenomenal job. He includes many twists to the plot. T.J., the main character, a high school student that stands out in more than way draws you in through his storytelling and writing. This book jerks on more than one emotion. It leaves you feeling sad, happy, angry and then laughing. I loved this book after I got passed the first several chapters and definitely recommend this book to high school students.
Rating:
Summary: What Talk
Review: Whale Talk, certainly not a title you would expect to see on a book of this sort. Dont let the title fool you, this is certianly the best book I have ever read. There's never a dull moment. Theres always something happening. The arry of characters is almost overwhelming. There are characters in this book to match anybodies personality. TJ came from a very culturaly diverse background, witch some will not soon let him forget. Mike Barber and Rich marshell are two of the coldest, most self-filled people I have ever read about. Chris Crutcher made it incretibly easy to hate these two characters. Then there are TJ's friends, each unique and special in his own way. Together they formed the Cutter High Mermen, a swim team that the athletic council strongly objected to forming. They will do everything in their power to stop them from getting their letter jackets. The further into the story you get, the more you love it. This book is a must read. It will change your outlook on life.
Rating:
Summary: Whale Talk
Review: I loved the book Whale Talk. It was the most enthralling book I've read. The author, Chris Crutcher, does a great job of keeping the reader's attention. I couldn't put it down. The main character, TJ, is a very captivationg guy. TJ's adopted parents are really cool. He is an Olympic hopeful in swimming. Cutter High, TJ's high school, is a very athletic school and if you don't play a sport you are considered a nerd and no one likes you. TJ could be a great football player, but he doesn't want to play any sports. When the top athletes start picking on Chris, a retarded boy whose brother was a top athlete that died, TJ steps in. He is determined to show the school that his misfit swim team is capable of winning a prized possesion, a letter jacket. The only problems are Cutter High doesn't have a poool and no swimmers besides TJ. So TJ used his determination to form a misfit swim team and show up the school. Along the way the team faces hurdles dealing with the jackets that no on wants them to have. At home TJ faces mnay problems. The ending is very intriguing and keeps you reading. Crutcher is an excellent writer that keeps you reading. I couldn't put the book down. The reason why I love the book so much is that it is dramatic, had a good conflict and kept me reading. Whale Talk is an awesome book that I'd recommend to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Breathless
Review: I couldn't put this one down. Felt like I'd just been thrown into the pool along with TJ and his misfit friends who struggled against all the odds to create a high school swim team. Dealing with hot buttons like bigotry, child and spousal abuse, lifelong remorse, manslaughter and murder, you'd think this book could be one huge downer. But it wasn't: it was oddly the opposite with each kid rising above whatever his particular handicap was and growing. Kudos to Crutcher. My only very minor criticism was that his references to popular culture (tv & music) were a bit dated--but that wasn't enough to make me stop reading!
Rating:
Summary: Kris in Portland is simply WRONG.
Review: I'm astonished that Amazon.com has allowed this rant (not review) to linger like stink for so long. But if they aren't going to remove it, I'll step up to refute it. Crutcher did have a novel about a school shooting written -- a novel that became the short story in Don Gallo's anthology, ON THE FRINGE. He turned it in to his editor at Greenwillow literally days before Columbine became another word for high school bloodbath. But Crutcher respects his readers too much to release such an ill-timed book. So months of work slipped into his editor's waste basket, and a new version of WHALE TALK was born. Crutcher didn't bow to any pressure. He acted out of compassion and in answer to his own measure of integrity, reputation completely in tact. The new WHALE TALK became an entirely different but exceptional book about friendship, inclusion, honor and redeption. Developmentally disabled character Chris Coughlin is nothing like "Telephone Man" from THE CRAZY HORSE ELECTRIC GAME and the follow-up short story in ATHLETIC SHORTS. Coughlin is a tender, 3-D character in his own right and the perfect spark to multiracial protagonist Tao Jones's gripping and often hillarious coming-of-age. Crutcher has the same edge, the same perceptive brillance he has always had, and more. Robert Cormier, a novelist we will all grieve but never forget, would undoubtedly dispute your assertion that Crutcher's storytelling skills lack authenticity, just as I do. In fact, I'd venture to say he knows more about real kids at risk than this reviewer "Kris" ever will. It seems clear that she did not do her homework when it came to Crutcher or WHALE TALK. Hopefully, other Amazon.com readers will do better. Lucid readers will find reading this unforgetable, powerful story will be its own reward.
Rating:
Summary: Best book i've read!
Review: While looking threw the lib. at my school i saw this book kinda making fun of the title as i picked it up. I read about 3 lines of the inside cover and decided i was going to get it because it was about swimming.As i was reading this book it just got better and better and i can honestly say that this is the best book that i've ever read. The book talks about all the things that teenagers go threw in life and if you were a diffrent race, The racial things. Also those 2 or 3 guys/girls that you hate all the way threw high school. GREAT BOOK, read it!
Rating: 
Summary: Crutcher's recycling reads like garbage
Review: I remember the anticipation I felt when I heard a new Chris Crutcher novel was coming out. I also remember how that anticipation was increased when I heard that the novel was about school shootings. I heard this well before the book was finished and supposedly it was to take the bulk of it's inspiration from the shooting in Moses Lake Washington. Ironically, the shooting itself took it's inspiration from a book: Stephen King's "Rage."
Then Columbine happened and Crutcher decided to overhaul his novel because Columbine "forever changed the way this story can be told." After I heard that my excitement for reading this novel grew exponentially. Someone was actually going to write about Columbine, and as it turned out release it in the month that contains it's anniversary. That is daring to say the least, more importantly it would be exceedingly difficult to write about. What happened? Did Crutcher bow to political pressure that warned it might appear as if he were condoning and/or encouraging school shootings? My guess would be yes and if I'm right, shame on him. He sold his reputation to the scare-mongers. I have faith that Chris Crutcher is skilled enough to successfully avoid all of the perils that might present themselves in writing a novel of this type. It appears that Crutcher backed-out of this daunting task rather late and didn't have enough time to recover. The final draft of "Whale Talk" is proof of that. The first part of the novel might as well be called "Stotan: Part Two." The rest consists of other assorted BIG pieces from his previous novels. The most noticeable of which is the character of Chris Coughliin. He is an carbon copy of Jack "The Telephone Man" from "The Crazy Horse Electric Game." The protagonist could have been replaced with any one of Crutcher's previous main characters. It seems that Crutcher may have been trying to disguise the fact that he has created nothing new by creating unique names, Tay-Roy Kibble, Dan Hole, and of course it's only fitting that the strangest name belong to the protagonist, The Tao Jones. Speaking of strange names, why does the swim team have to be called the "Mermen"? The word "Merman" will always and forever conjure up the horrible image of Ben Stiller in a giant fin. It seems Crutcher has also lost his touch for biting dialogue. What kind of an insult is the phrase "nothing-burger"? It sounds as if it were ripped from a "full house" script.
Reading such a lackluster effort from Chris Crutcher makes me mourn the death of Robert Cormier even more, because it seems his death also meant the death of realism in the Young Adult novel.
Since writing this review I have come upon a short story that is unimaginatively titled "Guns for Geeks" in the anthology "On the fringe." Apparently this is the story that was inspired by the Moses Lake shootings, and it does appear that it was either completed or revised after Columbine because it makes reference to it in the text. But the shooter is still a lone gunman. The story of the lone school gunman was already told with stunning prophetic perfection in the affore mentioned "Rage." What made Columbine different was that there were two gunmen, who didn't just take over a classroom, they meticulously planned to take over an entire high school. That makes for an entirely different story. I was disappointed that Crutcher decided not to take it on. Not only that but the release of this short story reveals even more of Crutcher's self plagarism. The only crudely powerful line in "Whale Talk" was lifted from this story. In this story Crutcher asks us to believe that the U.S. government class just happened to be discussing the second amendment when the shooting started. He also wants us to believe that a teacher in Washington in fairly recent times got away with playing the "Star Spangled Banner" on a students buttocks! Come on!
Rating:
Summary: Read this Book!
Review: Chris Crutcher has written what is sure to become a classic. This book will make you laugh out loud on one page and weep on the next. A group of misfits, led by TJ (The Tao Jones..his real name), become a swim team. The lessons about acceptance and teamwork are brilliantly portrayed.
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