Whale Talk (19 page)

CHRIS CRUTCHER
has written nine critically acclaimed novels, an autobiography, and two collections of short stories. He has won three lifetime achievement awards for the body of his work: the Margaret A. Edwards Award for Outstanding Literature for Young Adults, the ALAN Award for a Significant Contribution to Adolescent Literature, and the NCTE National Intellectual Freedom Award.

He has been a child and family therapist with the Spokane Community Mental Health Center and is currently chairperson of the Spokane Child Protection Team. Chris Crutcher lives in Spokane, Washington.

www.chriscrutcher.com

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“An unusual yet resonant mixture of black comedy and tragedy that lays bare the superficiality of the high school scene.”

—
Publishers Weekly
(
STARRED REVIEW
)

“Crutcher’s superior gifts as a storyteller and his background as a working therapist combine to make magic in
Whale Talk
.”

—
Washington Post

“Crutcher is at his darkest but also his funniest here, and the book conveys his most timely message—forgiveness, not revenge.”

—
VOYA

“T. J. himself is witty, self-assured, fearless, intelligent, and wise beyond his years.”

—
School Library Journal

“A compulsively readable story.”

—
Kirkus Reviews

“Highly entertaining…. Readers will have a hard time resisting the charm.”

—
Houston Chronicle

“This book should be required reading for every freak, geek, and jock living the American dream/nightmare of high school.”

—Collette Morgan, Wild Rumpus Books

HONORS AND AWARDS FOR
Whale Talk

One of the ALA’s Top Five Most Challenged Books in 2005

A
Publishers Weekly
Best Book

An ALA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults

An ALA Popular Paperback for Young Adults

A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age

A Teenreads.com Best Book

A Texas Library Association Tayshas High School

Reading List Selection

Winner of the Washington State Book Award

Cover photograph © 2009 by Ali Smith

Cover design by Hilary Zarycky

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

WHALE TALK
. Copyright © 2001 by Chris Crutcher. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Adobe Digital Edition August 2009 ISBN 978-0-06-196853-2

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