Title: Crash
Author: Jerry Spinelli
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Genre: Teen
Age level: 9-12
Themes: Bullying, tricksters, standing up for something you believe in
Synopsis: What's it like to be Crash Coogan? You might think you know him already- the big jock, star of the football team. Huge shoulders, smallish brain. Basically mows down everything in his patch, including kids like Penn Webb, the dweeby, puny, button-wearing vegetable-eater who moved onto Crash's block when they were little- and has been a prime target ever since. But there's more to Crash than the touchdown-scoring kid every seventh grader sees. And it's not the predictable sob story that's supposed to make you feel sorry for the poor bully. It's the story of a kid with overworked parents, an ecology-minded smart-aleck little sister, a crush on an activist cheerleader, and a best buddy named Mike Deluca, who helps Crash pull off hilarious pranks at Webb's expense. Until one day Mike goes too far, maybe even for Crash, and the football hero has to choose which side he's really on.
Synopsis: What's it like to be Crash Coogan? You might think you know him already- the big jock, star of the football team. Huge shoulders, smallish brain. Basically mows down everything in his patch, including kids like Penn Webb, the dweeby, puny, button-wearing vegetable-eater who moved onto Crash's block when they were little- and has been a prime target ever since. But there's more to Crash than the touchdown-scoring kid every seventh grader sees. And it's not the predictable sob story that's supposed to make you feel sorry for the poor bully. It's the story of a kid with overworked parents, an ecology-minded smart-aleck little sister, a crush on an activist cheerleader, and a best buddy named Mike Deluca, who helps Crash pull off hilarious pranks at Webb's expense. Until one day Mike goes too far, maybe even for Crash, and the football hero has to choose which side he's really on.
About the author: Growing up, Jerry Spinelli was really serious about baseball. He played for the Green Sox Little League team in his hometown of Norristown, Pennsylvania, and dreamed of one day playing for the major leagues, preferably as shortstop for the New York Yankees. In 11th grade he wrote a poem about a high school football game, which was published in his hometown of Norristown, PA's newspaper. After that he became a writer, and his is autobiography Knots in my Yo-Yo String highlights up until that point in his life. His wife, Eileen Spinelli, is also a writer, and the couple has 6 children. His kids triggered memories of his own childhood, and these memories became a "library" where he does much of his research. Jerry and Eileen have 16 grandchildren, and Jerry has 25 published books.
Pre-reading activities: Asking the students what they think the book is about, especially from the cover, which has a picture of a baby boy with a mustache drawn on it and a bubble cloud of a football player.
Post-reading activities: The students can form small groups and act our their favorite scene from the book from a selection of the main scenes. The students will add to the dialogue already in the book, almost creating their own "script." They may work with props if they wish, and will perform them in front of the class.
Reflection: I read this book while student teaching in 6th grade, and I had never heard of Jerry Spinelli or this book prior to my experiences. As I continued to read through the book, I loved it so much that I would read more than just a few chapters a night.
Works cited:
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