Web Crawl - Chris Crutcher

After finishing my web crawl, I found it difficult to choose between three authors, John Green, Gary Paulsen and Chris Crutcher. John Green appealed to me because his site was engaging and humorous, Gary Paulsen because his website discusses not only his books but his own adventures and Chris Crutcher because his books are controversial. Of these three, I chose Chris Crutcher because I wanted to explore the censorship issue. An added bonus is that he was born in Dayton.

The main characters in Chris Crutcher’s books are mostly male teenagers who are athletes and many have personal problems. His books include: Running Loose, Chinese Handcuffs, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, Whale Talk , The Sledding Hill , and Deadline. I personally have not read any of his books but after reading excerpts and reviews for many of them I plan to. They sound funny, touching and deal with important issues.

Before he began his writing career, Mr. Crutcher was a teacher, a therapist, a child protection advocate, and he directed a “last chance” charter school for at-risk students. These experiences give flavor to his books; they deal with real problems teens face, in an honest way. These issues include prejudice –both racial and religious, child abuse, disabilities, and poverty. His books often include strong language and discussion of situations that many people feel young people should be shielded from, such as abortion and homosexuality, and many of his books have been challenged or banned. On the flip side, he recieved the Margaret A. Edwards Award in 2000 for lifetime contribution to young adult literature.

As a result, Mr. Crutcher’s website devotes a lot of space to censorship, the first amendment and his interactions with those who would ban his, and other authors' works. He is very passionate about free speech and it shows in emails that he has posted between him and people who are angered by his books and beliefs. These interactions are not just about his books, he also published a series of emails from a correspondence with a woman who felt he should have refrained from putting a “Vote for Obama” advertisement on his website. She felt it was “BAD JUDGEMENT and UNPROFESSIONAL”. His response to her was, in essence, that it was his right to state his political opinion just as it was her right not to go to his site.

This particular situation made me think about my own reactions to censorship issues. I am a firm believer in free speech and don’t feel that well written books with a message should be omitted from library shelves. I also agree with Mr. Crutcher about his right to advertise his support for Barack Obama on his website. That being said, I had an issue during the 2004 election with the school I worked at and my daughter attended. The school took a busload of kids during school to watch President Bush’s campaign motorcade drive by. They said it was not a conflict because he was our president. In addition, the school secretary posted Bush campaign stickers, wore several buttons and had election memorabilia all around her desk and surrounding area. I found both of these things out of line in a school and I complained. I felt the better way to handle the election in the school was to explore both candidates and the issues, rather than just advocating for one side. I see a difference between Crutcher’s personal website advocating for a particular candidate and a public school doing the same. I don’t know; I may be wrong. I did, however, advise my sister, a middle school art teacher, that I thought that she should not be wearing an Obama button in the school. She didn’t agree with me.

To end this very long blog, I think Chris Crutcher is an important author for young adults and think his books are worth exploring.