Crash

by Jerry Spinelli

Publisher's Weekly :

Terms of Use:

Spinelli (There's a Girl in My Hammerlock) takes the brawny, bullying jock who is the villain in so many middle-grade novels and casts him as the narrator of this agile tale. Ever since first grade "Crash" Coogan has been tormenting dweeby Penn Ward, a skinny vegetarian Quaker boy who lives in a tiny former garage with his aged parents. Now that they're in seventh grade, "chippy chirpy perky" Penn becomes an even better target: not only does Penn still wear outdated used clothes, he joins the cheerleading squad. But even though Crash becomes the school's star football player and wears the most expensive togs from the mall, he still can't get what Penn has--his parents' attention and the admiration of the most gorgeous girl in school. And when his beloved grandfather Scooter is severely disabled by a stroke, Crash no longer sees the fun in playing brutal pranks and begins to realize that there are more important things in life than wearing new sneaks and being a sports star. Without being preachy, Spinelli packs a powerful moral wallop, leaving it to the pitch-perfect narration to drive home his point. All ages.
Copyright 1996 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Terms
School Library Journal :
Terms of Use:

Gr 5-8--A winning story about seventh-grade Crash Coogan's transformation from smug jock to empathetic, mature young man. In a clever, breezy first-person style, Spinelli tackles gender roles, family relationships, and friendship with humor and feeling. As the novel opens, Crash feels passionately about many things: the violence of football; being in charge; the way he looks in shoulder pads; never being second in anything; and the most expensive sneakers at the mall. Although a stereotypical bully, the boy becomes more than one-dimensional in the context of his overworked, unavailable parents and the love he has for his grandfather, who comes to live with the Coogans and then suffers a stroke. It is because of his affection for Scooter that Crash comes to appreciate Penn Webb, a neighbor and classmate whom for years Crash has tormented and teased about his pacifism, vegetarianism, second-hand clothes, and social activism. Penn relentlessly offers friendship, which Crash finally accepts when he sees Penn's love for his own great-grandfather as a common bond. The story concludes as Penn, named by his great-grandfather for Philadelphia's famous Penn Relays, wins the school race while the elderly man looks on. Readers will devour this humorous glimpse at what jocks are made of while learning that life does not require crashing helmet-headed through it.
Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME

Copyright 1996 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Terms
Review
: Booklist :
From Booklist, 1996, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
:
Terms of Use:
Gr. 5-7. Seventh-grader Crash Coogan is a jock, a jokester, and a tormenter of dweeb Penn Webb. The book gets off to a hilarious start as Crash recalls his first meeting with Penn at age six. Penn, recently arrived from North Dakota, wears a button honoring that state's bird, which proclaims, "I'm a Flickertale." Let the hassling begin. From there, the plot becomes rather predictable. Crash's beloved grandfather comes to live with the Coogans, and when he suffers a stroke, Crash finds himself with a vein of empathy that wasn't evident before. At the book's conclusion, Crash and Penn are pitted against each other in a big race, but Crash, knowing that Penn's great-grandfather is there to watch, makes the ultimate sacrifice of compassion over competition. Spinelli's writing style is great for kids in this age-group, fast-paced and funny. And while it's plain where events are leading Crash, the strongly drawn characters, rather than the plot, become the focal point. Even though girls will read this, too, here's one for the boys. (Reviewed June 1 & 15, 1996)¾: Ilene Cooper.
: