Rating: 
Summary: Best Book
Review: Along with SIGHTS by Susanna Vance, this is the best book of the year.
Rating:
Summary: Tremendous novel
Review: As T.J. left his mother's womb, his father left never to be seen again because he understood fruit flies 101 and could not have engineered a Japanese-Black child. Two years later, his mother dumped T.J. on his current parents, the Jones, who raised him in Cutter, fifty or so miles from Spokane. His adopted parents taught T.J. to confront racism, which he learns is rarely in your face. However, T.J. has more problems with the way his rural town worships organized sports as if football or basketball, etc. is one of the Ten Commandments. An athlete, T.J. has never joined many of Cutter High School's teams mostly because the coaches enjoy public humiliation of the player. However, that changes when his favorite teacher, Mr. Simet of the English class and the side wagers, asks T.J. who swam junior Olympics several years ago to help him form a swimming team. As a chance to echo his dad and laugh at the establishment's follies, T.J. recruits a bunch of misfits who for the most part do not know what a swimming pool looks like. However, a team and a bond forms among the swimming team members. WHALE TALK is an excellent young adult tale starring a fabulous hero with a strong sense of right and wrong. T.J. is humorous and sad as he faces the daily horrors of high school. The merging of the team adds to the feel of an insightful, intelligent, but irrelevant look at society through the a teenager's mind. Though clearly young adult, the story line will entertain older readers especially those who were young adults in the sixties. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Crutcher still at his best
Review: Though they call Chris Crutcher's books "young adult", they're out there for the world to enjoy. Whale Talk, in my opinion, was every bit as good as Running Loose. If you've ever been or still are in high school,you'll love this story about local misfits who step up into the "macho" world of athletics and earning your letter jacket. This book is an easy read, throws a surprise at you in the end, but still leaves you appreciating the person next door, whether he/she is a "stud" or a "geek". Good job Chris Crutcher. Keep em coming!
Rating:
Summary: english project
Review: Picture your high school's outcasts, the kids no one talks to and no one really knows. Now imagine if you heard that this motley crew was about to become your high school's new varsity swim team. The same kids who are picked last for every team in gym, who has never been seen near the weight room or the track, who are the last people you would imagine wearing your high school letter jackets. Despite his natural athletic ability, the main character T. J. has always shunned Cutter High School's sports teams because, as he says, "something inside me recoils at being told what to do, and that doesn't sit well with most coaches, who are paid to do exactly that." However, when a favorite teacher asks him to help start a swim team at Cutter, T. J. sees an opportunity to turn the school's narrow idea of what an athlete is, privileged, good-looking, white, and male on its head.
Chris Crutcher is an excellent writer that keeps you reading. I could not put the book down. The reason why I liked 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 would recommend to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Got a whale of a tale to tell you friends...
Review: A good book rises above its own premise. Reading a short synopsis of this story without knowing anything about it beyond its plot could easily suggest to the average viewer that it's going to be awful. Think about it. A multi-racial protagonist and his motley crew of rag tag misfits puts together an unlikely swim team and everybody learns a little bit about what it's like to walk in another person's shoes. Bleaugh! That's the kind of After School Special plotting that can get a book seriously ignored by its intended audience. Now I had never read a Chris Crutcher book coming into this. Frankly, I know the man has a reputation for producing darned good books. Then I read "Whale Talk" and found, to my incredible relief, that this was not really a book about a swim team. It's about the circle of abuse and the amount of control an individual has over his or her own actions. It's about hurting other people and what the cost of that can be. In short, the book takes amazingly gigantic themes, renders them bite size, and gives them humanity and humor. It's the humor part that really impressed me.
T.J. Jones (actual name The Tao Jones... pronounce it, I dare you) is probably one of three people of color in his small Washington town. Adopted by his parents when he was a seriously abused toddler, T.J.'s a pretty well put together kid. That's probably in no small part due to his amazing mom and dad and his fantastic (some might say godlike) child therapist, Georgia. Which isn't to say that T.J.'s life is bereft of odd problems. His favorite teacher, Simet, is trying to lure T.J. into helping him start a school swim team. There are a couple problems with this plan. For one thing, T.J. refuses to join any organized sports. Cutter High School is run by and for its jocks. These jocks have been trying for years (unsuccessfully) to get T.J. onto one of their teams. Also, the school has no swimming pool. So T.J. isn't exactly thrilled about the idea of getting roped into this situation until he sees some of the local heavies beating up a mentally handicapped kid because he refuses to stop wearing his dead jock brother's letter jacket. Suddenly our hero has a mission, and the mission is clear. To create a swim team comprised of the kind of guys who otherwise could never be able to get involved in an organized sport. Even better, he's going to get each and every one of them a letter jacket.
This is just the barest of outlines describing this book. T.J. has a lot going on in his life and this includes his father's guilt about accidentally killing a toddler some thirty years before, a girl who tries continually to wash her skin clean of pigment, her psychotic father who is both a wife abuser and T.J.'s enemy, and a team that becomes closer as their problems become clearer. This is truly a book written about a man for men. Which isn't to say that girls won't love this tale, or that it's bereft of strong female characters. In fact, Crutcher is especially good at balancing women who've been abused in the past with their far stronger counterparts. No, when I say that this is a boy book, I'm referring to the fact that the central focus of this story rests squarely on the male swimming team. Sure, T.J. has a girlfriend but her presence in this story is probably just to prove to the viewer that he's a well adjusted guy with a well adjusted gal. Honestly, his relationship is not the focus of this tale. And that's kinda refreshing.
I think what I liked best about this book was that it recognized that behind every crazed idiot, there's a reason they act the way they do. Crutcher isn't the best young adult writer that knows about abuse (that honor belongs squarely to Alex Flinn) but he comes close. A person could learn more from reading this book about the cyclical nature of violence than they would from almost any other source. I'm praising the book beautifully, but it's not without the occasional flaw. Consider, for example, the character of Tay-Roy. This is a bodybuilder that joins the team and has, basically, no real personality. As far as I could determine, everything Tay-Roy does could have been accomplished by T.J. They're similar in every respect, except that Tay-Roy's slightly better looking. It's odd that Crutcher would have kept himself from omitting extraneous characters like this one, but as flaws go, this one's pretty minimal. The worst I can say is that it slightly derails the flow of the text. Big whoop.
What Crutcher has as a writer that puts him heads and tails above and beyond his peers (some, at any rate) is his sense of humor. You cannot dislike a book where the main character is named The Tao Jones. You just can't. I mentioned that I think that Alex Flinn is the all-powerful guru of abused teens, but what Crutcher doesn't have in superior knowledge he makes up for in funnies. I'm sick and tired of all the deadly depressing books out there. If every writer could fill their texts with half as much pleasurable writing as Mr. C, I'd have a heckuva harder time figuring out which book to read next. In the end, "Whale Talk" accomplishes that mighty difficult task of being a good book about a near impossible subject. Abuse. Whether or not you agree that Crutcher wrote about this topic with the correct amount of respect, you have to admit he wrote about it well. I tip my hat to the man who's books I will now have to devour one by one to satiate my now uncontrollable young adult literature craving. Such is life.
Rating:
Summary: The Truth
Review: In typical Crutcher style, Whale Talk is set in a small town High School. Our hero, T.J.Jones, is a mixed race natural athlete who spurns the athletic department "machine" at Cutter High. Racism and intolerance enter the equation as sharp tongued, quick witted T.J.comes to the aid of developmentally disabled Chris, who, though no athlete, has the audacity to wear his dead older brother's letter jacket. T.J. gets his chance to thumb his nose at Cutter's sports establishment when his favorite teacher implores him to "help him out" by heading up a swim team. T.J. has swum competitively and is a natural, but, alas, Cutter High has no pool. T.J. recruits four of the most unnatural swimmers, and one of them inspires him to "go for it." Sheer determination and relentless late night and early morning workouts at a 24-hour fitness center with a pool earn the ultimate prize for this team. The bond that develops between the unconventional teammates is heartwarming and allows each to share unbelievable hurts and sorrows. Themes of abuse and abandonment recur, and the pain and anger generated by the suffering Mr. Crutcher shares with us will bring tears. You will laugh out loud as well as cry, but you will enjoy unraveling the mystery that is the title. I am a dedicated Crutcher fan, so I enjoy his consistent settings and themes. Some very powerful messages are offered to readers of Whale Talk. Good reading!
Rating: 
Summary: More Than Just An Underdog Story
Review: What appears to be a formulaic, let's root for the underdog sports story, is anything but in author Chris Crutcher's entertaining, sarcastic, yet truly poignant look at the trials and tribulations of life and high school in his book Whale Talk. It tells the story through the eyes and experiences of T.J. Jones. He is a gifted yet troubled young man who along with Coach Simet, and a wily fast food clerk turn assistant coach nicknamed Icko turns a group of social outcasts; Jackie, Dan, Chris, Tay-Roy, Simon, and Andy, into the "Cutter Mermen." Their initial goal was to win the coveted letterman jackets that their school worships thus earning the respect they deserve while indirectly making the popular jocks look stupid. But in the process they learn much more. While swimming may seem to be an unusual choice it fits in nicely with the stories underlining theme. Along the way there are issues of abuse, intolerance, class struggle, fate, tradition, value of teamwork, and various other painful secrets that will converge in an ultimate showdown that changes everyone's life forever. More than just a teen story it is about the choices everyone makes in their lives and the lessons that can be learned if one truly listens to the world around them.
Rating:
Summary: This book has everything for teens.
Review: I don't know where to start . . . I loved this book.
I have read hundreds of kids' books -- to my boys, and by myself, while scouting new material. This book has no rivals. It's the most powerful and insightful kids' story I have read.
The hero -- a gifted but iconoclastic adoptee -- latches on to the misfits in his school, finds the goodness in each, and forms them into a family of sorts: a rag-tag swim team. Along the way, they confront and overcome various stereotypes, young and old bullies, narrow-minded school administrators, violence, and family demons. Oh, yeah, it's a fun book too. The oddball kids are entertaining, and their characters are well-developed to the point that you'll be sad when the story ends.
Neither you nor your kids will be disappointed in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Whale Talk - SLIS Review - TCapasso
Review: At Cutter High, jocks are highly revered and wearing a letterman's jacket is the ultimate status symbol. Gifted athlete, The Tao "TJ" Jones, could easily be a hometown hero, and excel on any of the high school teams. But, for reasons of his own, he opts out of playing organized sports, to the irritation of Cutter High's coaching staff. That is, until he finally decides to join the swim team, a sport he can easily letter in, and win that coveted letterman's jacket. Only problem is, there is no pool, and there is no swim team.
TJ Jones has issues. Born to a drug-addicted mom, TJ struggles to control his volatile temper and come to terms with his early years, when he was abused and abandoned. His mixed-race heritage makes him a real stand-out in his small northwestern town, where he confronts bigotry and bullies. Determined to do things his own way, TJ sets about assembling an unlikely swim team composed of a group of high school rejects and misfits. With the love and support of his adoptive parents and sage counselor, Georgia, TJ deals with his own inner demons, while helping his teammates achieve a level success and acceptance they have never before experienced. "Whale Talk" is a story about speaking your own truth and having the courage to be yourself, even in the face of intolerance and violence. Recommended for ages 12 and up.
Rating:
Summary: Forever high school
Review: Irritated by high school hierarchy, athletically and intellectually gifted T.J. Jones offers every boy at Cutter High School a fair shot at donning the ultimate prize...a varsity letter jacket. But first he must lead his group of misfit Joes through a maze of high school bullies, Athletic Department meetings, and small town politics. T.J. is strongly supported by his family and teammates throughout his mission. However in the end, he discovers that by keeping his cool and outwitting his opponents, he can play the game, but not without suffering ultimate consequences.
Crutcher's characters resemble any reader's high school yearbook. The hero is the boy that everyone admires. The bullies never win any spelling bees. The misfit Joes each have classic identities... the know-it-all, the dysfunctional slow learner, the quiet kid, the heavy kid, the kid with no future. The Athletic Dept. consists of former hometown high school athletes refusing to relinquish their glory days. But the success of his novel lies in the fact that any reader will identify with the characters in some way. It leaves the reader with the encouragement that he/she can change the system with the right moves.
A must have for the high school library. Recommended for ages 12 and up. - JK
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