Athletic Shorts; 6 Short Stories - Softcover

Crutcher, Chris

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0440213908 ISBN 13: 9780440213901

Publisher: Laurel Leaf, 1992

Synopsis

Moving and funny stories reintroduce some memorable characters from the author's well-known novels--Chinese Handcuffs, Running Loose--along with new characters, all involved in real-life challenges. Reprint.

About this title

About the Author:

Chris Crutcher has written nine critically acclaimed novels, an autobiography, and two collections of short stories. Drawing on his experience as a family therapist and child protection specialist, Crutcher writes honestly about real issues facing teenagers today: making it through school, competing in sports, handling rejection and failure, and dealing with parents. He has won three lifetime achievement awards for the body of his work: the Margaret A. Edwards Award, the ALAN Award, and the NCTE National Intellectual Freedom Award. Chris Crutcher lives in Spokane, Washington.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Six short stories, five of them about characters from Crutcher's novels. The protagonists are involved in sports, but the real theme is growing--grappling with something tough and finding the courage to carry on. For instance, in ``A Brief Moment in the Life of Angus Bethune'' (originally published in Connections, 1989, edited by Don Gallo), huge Angus has been elected Senior Winter Ball King as a joke: he can't dance. Too proud to stay away yet terrified to go, his problems are complicated by his secret love for the elected queen and by the fact that kids have always teased him because both his parents are gay. With wry courage, Angus achieves a triumph that should lighten any reader's spirits. The so-vulnerable Lionel (Stotan!) tries desperately to forgive the boy who caused his parents' and brother's deaths; less successfully, ``Telephone Man'' (The Crazy Horse Electric Game) is slowly loosening the heavy racism placed on him by his beloved father. In ``The Pin,'' Johnny wrestles his father in a can't-win battle neither wants to win--or lose; ``The Other Pin'' is about a wrestler in love with the girl he's supposed to beat at an upcoming match. Finally, ``In the Time I Get,'' Louie Banks (Running Loose) overcomes another kind of prejudice when he befriends a stranger who has AIDS. An involving group of stories, somewhat uneven in focus but all thought-provoking and discussable. (Fiction. 12-15) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Laurel Leaf
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0440213908
• ISBN 13: 9780440213901
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 161