Book+Talk+Pages

//Books we have to read to become better human beings...//
 * Book Talks **

You must include the following with your book talks:
 * Requirements **


 * Title & Author (Cover pic, if available)
 * Brief synopsis
 * Why this book makes you a better human being
 * Voki with powerful, resonant passage from book

To make your page, type in the title and author of the book below. Then create a new page (click 'New Page' at the top left) and give it the same title as your book. On this page, hyperlink the book title to your new page.

|| Click on the Voki for an excerpt from "In the Time I Get," the last story in Crutcher's //Athletic Shorts//.
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Check out his website at [|www.chriscrutcher.com].

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 * Synopsis:**

In //Athletic Shorts//, Crutcher tells six powerful short stories that show moments in the lives of characters from his other hard-hitting novels. His characters are athletes, but their stories are of their lives, of the difficulties that they face--the difficulties that we all face--on their way to adulthood, as messy as it often is.

As Publisher's Weekly puts it, "If the stereotype of the `bonehead jock' is ever to be defeated, it will be at Crutcher's hands. In these six short stories, he and his athlete protagonists take on such weighty issues as racism, homophobia, sexism and the teenager's essential task of coming to terms with his parents. At the same time the author makes the world of sports compelling enough to engage even the most sedentary readers."

**Why this book makes you a better human being:**

Crutcher gives us characters dealing with issues that, as teens, we all seem to have strong opinions about, but very little firsthand experience. In living through those painful moments with characters we can relate to, we can move towards adulthood with perhaps a bit more grace and compassion than we would have on our own. ||