Rating: 
Summary: Read this book!
Review: I often struggle to get students to read, yet it's difficult to offer ideas to kids sometimes. Chinese Handcuffs is ALWAYS a hit with my high school students, boys and girls alike. They relate to their characters, their conflicts, and the dialogue and structure of the novel. I highly recommend this novel for anyone not afraid of challenging subject matter.
Rating: 
Summary: Reviewing a Masterpiece
Review: I really enjoyed reading Chinese Handcuffs. Reading the book was a memorable experience for me. I was moved by the content of the story, which shows us that adults aren't the only people who suffer in the world; kids and teenagers do, too. In the book we learn of a boy named Dillon Hemingway. He is a junior in high school and a very big triathlon star. Throughout the story we can see that Dillon is not very open with his dad or with others about the death of his brother, Preston. His brother had committed suicide right in front of him. We also learn about a girl named Jennifer Lawless. She is a basketball star and very popular at her school. But we learn that she is keeping a very big secret, one that she has kept and won't share with anyone. Chinese Handcuffs is very open when it comes to addressing the issues that plague today's youth. I especially like the way the story was written. We see the world from Dillon's viewpoint by being able to read the letters he writes to Preston, and also we get a better glimpse of Jen's life through flashbacks. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone, especially the people who think they have it bad. After reading this, they will see the world in an entirely different light. I give the story a 5 because it was very informative, interesting, and dramatic.
Rating:
Summary: It's a pretty good book
Review: I really enjoyed this book, and I think high school kids would, too.
Rating:
Summary: An Outstanding Book
Review: I recently read the book Chinese Handcuffs by Chris Crutcher. Ilove the book. It's an outstanding young adult book. I like thebook because most teenagers can relate to the two stories in the book. I think people can really relate to the pregnancy of Stacy to Dillion's dead brother Preston. I think that also people can relate to suicide like how Preston committed suicide in the story because of drugs and other personal situations. Also there are a lot of people getting abused around the world, not just sexually but mentally and physically, just like Jenn's father abuses her. My favorite part of he book is when Jenn runs out of the basketball game and Dillon goes after her to keep her from committing suicide. It shows that he really cares about her and doesn't want her to be hurt anymore. I didn't like that it had two different plots to the story that kind of confused me. I also didn't like the way Crutcher ends the story. I think he could have either ended it differently or came back to make a sequel.
Rating:
Summary: sms student
Review: I recently read the book Chinese Handcuffs by Chris Crutcher. The book was pretty good. I could easily relate to it. It is about a boy (Dillon Hemingway) and that his brother killed himself right in front of him. Also it's about a girl (Jenn) who is one of the best basketball players in the state. But jenn also has some secrets that will blow you away. Dillion and Jenn both know each other. Dillon is a big part of her life as you'll find out throughout this book. This book is great for anybody who likes suspense. I hope you enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite Chris Crutcher novel!
Review: I think the teacher put her finger on exactly why I love Chris Crutcher--the problems his characters have are realistic, and yes, there are bad and good people, but there are bad and good role models for them, too. And there's something else--a sense of hope for their future. Jen is a basketball player with a horrible secret. Dylan is an athlete training to be an "Ironman" who witnessed his brother Preston's suicide. Stacy was Preston's girlfriend with some surprising problems of her own. How all three of them come to grips with their past and present problems is moving and engrossing. I'm not even really a sports fan, but I love this guy anyway!
Rating:
Summary: Overcomming Obstacles
Review: One of the many wonderful novels that Chris Crutcher has written is titled "Chinese Handcuffs". Crutcher has written various books about teens, athletic sports, and the problems that follow. These intense and exciting novels discuss how some kids deal with their problems, whether they solve them or not. "Chinese Handcuffs" is just one example Chris Crutcher writing style where teens overcome obstacles.
The two main characters in the book "Chinese Handcuffs" are Dillon Hemingway, and Jennifer Lawless. Jen has had a tough life since she was eleven when her dad started to harass her, and Dillon had his brother recently kill himself. Together they learn to become friends and get through tough times and solve each other's problems.
Overcoming obstacles is a major part in this book that every character faces. For Jen, she needs to learn how to trust someone, that will get her help, but it's not that easy, there are other factors standing in the way of her wanting to get help. Dillon already went through a big downfall in his life watching his brother kill himself, but he is determined to become a family again with his father and even the family members that moved away; his mother and sister. Dillon and Jen relate in more ways than imaginable, and most people can't understand them, or what they're going through. Jen helps give Dillon confidence and trust while Dillon gives Jen the sense of security and someone to talk to that will help her. Everything seems to be getting better in Jens life until her mom comes home and announces something that would change Jens life forever in the worst kind of way. She becomes so enraged that she is willing to die rather than live though this, and Dillon finds out and almost kills himself trying to help her.
I like the style that Chris Crutcher wrote in, and the way the book was laid out. In the beginning of the book, it told Jen's side of the story, and then it told Dillon's side of the story, and by the end of the book their lives combined into one story. And then it became easier to read becasue it didn't jump back and forth anymore. I didn't like how the setting was vague; the book only mentioned the name of the town once or twice. I really liked the book because it was a mix of action and romance.
The theme of "Chinese Handcuffs" is to keep on trying to solve a problem, because the resolution may not be right around the corner, you might need to search for it. In order to overcome obstacles you need to put effort into it and really want to accomplish it, because if you don't try your hardest, then the solution may not be as obvious or ever be found.
Rating:
Summary: Overcomming Obstacles
Review: One of the many wonderful novels that Chris Crutcher has written is titled "Chinese Handcuffs". Crutcher has written various books about teens, athletic sports, and the problems that follow. These intense and exciting novels discuss how some kids deal with their problems, whether they solve them or not. "Chinese Handcuffs" is just one example Chris Crutcher writing style where teens overcome obstacles.
The two main characters in the book "Chinese Handcuffs" are Dillon Hemingway, and Jennifer Lawless. Jen has had a tough life since she was eleven when her dad started to harass her, and Dillon had his brother recently kill himself. Together they learn to become friends and get through tough times and solve each other's problems.
Overcoming obstacles is a major part in this book that every character faces. For Jen, she needs to learn how to trust someone, that will get her help, but it's not that easy, there are other factors standing in the way of her wanting to get help. Dillon already went through a big downfall in his life watching his brother kill himself, but he is determined to become a family again with his father and even the family members that moved away; his mother and sister. Dillon and Jen relate in more ways than imaginable, and most people can't understand them, or what they're going through. Jen helps give Dillon confidence and trust while Dillon gives Jen the sense of security and someone to talk to that will help her. Everything seems to be getting better in Jens life until her mom comes home and announces something that would change Jens life forever in the worst kind of way. She becomes so enraged that she is willing to die rather than live though this, and Dillon finds out and almost kills himself trying to help her.
I like the style that Chris Crutcher wrote in, and the way the book was laid out. In the beginning of the book, it told Jen's side of the story, and then it told Dillon's side of the story, and by the end of the book their lives combined into one story. And then it became easier to read becasue it didn't jump back and forth anymore. I didn't like how the setting was vague; the book only mentioned the name of the town once or twice. I really liked the book because it was a mix of action and romance.
The theme of "Chinese Handcuffs" is to keep on trying to solve a problem, because the resolution may not be right around the corner, you might need to search for it. In order to overcome obstacles you need to put effort into it and really want to accomplish it, because if you don't try your hardest, then the solution may not be as obvious or ever be found.
Rating:
Summary: A reader from West Virginia
Review: Raeann Barsi 2nd Block January 16, 2001Chinese Handcuffs A reader from West Virginia Chinese Handcuffs by Chris Crutcher was an amazing book. I was unable to put it down, once I picked it up. Chris is an amazing author because he takes real life issues and problems and crams it all into one book. In Chinese Handcuffs, a boy named Dillon must cope with his brother's suicidal death. Not only that, but he also faces a close friend who must live with the fact that her dad raped her and her stepfather molests her. However, at times I thought this book was confusing because I didn't understand what the letter to Preston, Dillon's brother, was all about. I was shocked at how the novel ended and disappointed because I wanted to read more of it, but I had finished it. I rate this book a 10 and definitely 5 stars. Everyone should read this book because if you didn't, you would be missing out.
Rating:
Summary: BOUND IN INTEREST!
Review: Readers will be bound to this book for the sheer interest and pleasure of reading it through. The characters are appealing and refreshingly realistic. Dillon is an excellent example of friendship in how he literally saves his friend Jenn's life. Poor Jenn had been raped by her father and her step father and her idiot of a mother was totally ineffectual. The only part that really bothered me was when Jenn's mother, learning she was pregnant with a third daughter, said she'd give the child up for adoption. That was stupid. I think it would have been best to keep the baby and get rid of her no good father and to have protected the two older girls. That was inexcusable. Dillon and Jenn were good to, for and with each other. As literary couples, they are here to stay.
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