Whale Talk

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars | 315 ratings

Price: 15.86

Last update: 10-20-2024


About this item

There’s bad news and good news about the Cutter High School swim team. The bad news is that they don’t have a pool. The good news is that only one of them can swim anyway. A group of misfits brought together by T. J. Jones (the J is redundant), the Cutter All Night Mermen struggle to find their places in a school that has no place for them. T.J. is convinced that a varsity letter jacket - exclusive, revered, the symbol (as far as T.J. is concerned) of all that is screwed up at Cutter High - will also be an effective tool. He’s right. He’s also wrong. Still, it’s always the quest that counts. And the bus on which the Mermen travel to swim meets soon becomes the space where they gradually allow themselves to talk, to fit, to grow. Together they’ll fight for dignity in a world where tragedy and comedy dance side by side, where a moment’s inattention can bring lifelong heartache, and where true acceptance is the only prescription for what ails us.


Top reviews from the United States

Debbie Breitwieser
5.0 out of 5 stars Easy read
Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2024
Good book easy read great pick for summer reading ???? Good for teenagers especially boys
sallie e hemmingsen
5.0 out of 5 stars Happy
Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2024
Book arrived in excellent condition and ina timely matter
Lisa K. Blake
4.0 out of 5 stars Almost a Five…
Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2024
This book took me along time to get into. Like, a long time. But holy cow once I was in the mindset to really grab onto it, I could not let go. I loved these characters and was truly sad to let them go. I so want to know the rest of their stories. Chris Crutcher captures so many truths here about belonging and rebellion, grief and forgiveness, the truest definitions of family, and the power of love and connection. Just a great book.
Elizabeth Carroll
5.0 out of 5 stars love, and sacrifice
Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2016
When I began reading Whale Talk, I thought I would be reading a story about a teenager struggling to put together a swim team at his very athletically-driven high school (as suggested by the synopsis). What I ended up reading, however, was a story about perseverance, acceptance, tolerance, love, and sacrifice.

Crutcher's protagonist, T.J. Jones, is a rare gem of a character. Having survived an early childhood of neglect and being the target of racism in his mostly white school, T.J. has plenty of reasons to be angry. However, he remains stoic in the face of adversity, refusing to rise to the racial taunts of his enemies. In fact, what makes him such a wonderful character is that his indignation and sense of justice are not reserved for himself but for others who fall outside the scope of the "in" crowd. His effort to put together a swim team is driven by an injustice he witnesses towards another classmate. In a school driven by athletics, he walks a precarious slope with the individuals on his team who fit plenty of categories--mentally challenged, handicapped, mute, overweight--except athletic. Still, T.J.'s drive and determination help whip this group of misfits into a competitive swim team in no time flat.

Of course, from the arc of the swim team come many other compelling story lines--abuse, death, racism, and forgiveness. Crutcher seamlessly weaves these threads into the story by putting T.J. front and center. By witnessing and even participating in other characters' difficulties--the racial abuse inflicted upon a five-year-old girl of mixed race, the tragedy of his father's past, the sexual abuse suffered by one of his teammates--T.J. is better able to put his own life into perspective with guidance from his loving adoptive parents and his therapist.

Although the last 20 pages or so stray into melodrama, this book is powerful on so many levels. Images--the deer, the Brillo pad--will stay with the reader long after the book has been closed. At the core of its message is the idea that no one really knows what difficulties others are facing, a poignant message given the times we live in.
Julia Walter
5.0 out of 5 stars WHALE TALK IS A VERY , VERY GREAT BOOK
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2007
WHALE TALK WAS VERY, VERY GOOD. I LIKED IT A LOT. IT HAD A LOT OF SWEAR WORDS IN IT, WHICH MADE ME WHAT TO READ IT MORE. THE PEOPLE IN THIS BOOK SWEAR A LOT LIKE I DO. THIS BOOK IS ABOUT SWIMMING AND SPORTS IF YOU LIKE SPORTS AND LIFE AND LITERATURE, THAN YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME A TEAHER I HAD EVER ASSIGNED ME A BOOK WITH THIS AMOUNT OF SWEAR WOODS WHICH WAS ODD. THIS BOOK WAS A LITLLE HARD FOR ME TO READ BY MYSELF. THIS BOOK WAS A 220 PAGE BOOK, I LIKE LONG BOOKS WITH THAT MANY PAGES. YOU SHOULD ALSO TRY TO READ THESE OTHER CHRIS CRUTCHER BOOKS LIKE IRONMAN, STOTAN,AND CHINESE HANDCUFFS. CHRIS CRUTCHER SOUNDS LIKE A VERY GOOD AUTHOR.
ERIC, 16 YEARS OLD MISS WATER IS MY TEAHER

(Written by a student of mine to fulfill a class project. JW)
Amanda Talbott
5.0 out of 5 stars Where was this book when I was a teen
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2021
Oh my god, ok, so, this book needs to gain a lot more traction. It is such an amazing story with a protagonist and supporting characters that you will cheer for all the way through. It is so gut-wrenchingly good at talking about abuse that I kept reading parts over and over again just to hear them for myself; words I wish someone would have told me as a teen.
Rooster
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2014
The filthy language is disturbing.
MJ
5.0 out of 5 stars Banned, challenged, a little bit brilliant.
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2010
Shortest review: Read this book. It's pretty amazing. Short review: If you're a teen or the parent of one, if you enjoy underdog or sports stories, if you've been through high school, or if you've ever experienced bigotry, read this book. It's pretty amazing. Longer Review: Yes, Crutcher packs a lot of issues into this book (racism, abandonment, child abuse, physical limitations are only a few), but each one is handled with sensitivity and humor. A rare combination, even rarer when done successfully. There's drama and comedy and suspense and action and emotion. The protagonist is flawed but incredibly sympathetic and appealing; secondary characters are finely drawn. We might never meet a T.J., but this creation of Crutcher's is a pretty amazing read.

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