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 enlarge | Author: Chris Crutcher
Publisher: HarperTeen
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy Used: $1.86
You Save: $6.13 (77%)
New (40) Used (33) from $1.86
Avg. Customer Rating:  53 reviews
Sales Rank: 342009
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7 x 5 x 0.8
ISBN: 0060598409
EAN: 9780060598402
ASIN: 0060598409
Publication Date: October 1, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Ex-Library Book Buy from the best: 4,000,000 items shipped to delighted customers. We have 1,000,000 unique items ready to ship today!
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| Customer Reviews:
 Ironman March 12, 2007
great book for young adults. Lots of themes and examples that can relate to adolescent lives.
 Anger Management February 13, 2007
Seventeen-year-old Beauregard Brewster is having trouble with authority figures--specifically his father and his English teacher at school. Both of these people push Beau's buttons and make him explode, which gets him into more trouble. His relationship with his teacher lands him in a before-school anger management class, with a bunch of other kids who seem to have problems much worse than Beau's. He learns to support them and let them support him as he learns to deal with his father and his teacher and strives to achieve his goal of competing in the Yukon Jack Ironman triathlon. Throughout the book Beau writes letters to radio and TV talk show host Larry King, and many of his feelings and problems come through in these letters.
Chris Crutcher's characters are fantastic. The main character in this story is interesting and sarcastic, and I liked that Lionel, a character from one of Crutcher's other books, made an appearance in this one. I like that this story isn't sugarcoated. Bad things happen to some of the characters, and they all deal with it and go on with their lives. The teens in this book fight against the things holding them down, which is admirable.
Interesting on many levels January 14, 2007
This novel addresses so many issues that teens face today. The way the relationships between the characters develop keeps the reader hooked page after page. This is a good one for reluctant male readers with average or above reading skills.
A Good Book Dealing with Anger Management and Personal Growth. December 20, 2006
True, some of the characters in this book are either too perfect as good examples or totally villified, but Chris Crutcher has written a very good tale in which he utilizes all the tools he needs to bring his point home to young adults that there are better ways to handle their problems than to use violence or blow a fuse all the time.
Rich with a gamut of emotion stirring situations, we follow young, atheletically driven Beau Brewster on his quest to be the "Ironman" in the school triathlon, though his own father tries to set him up for failure because he seems to be threatened by him. We also see Beau take a different route in dealing with the teacher who sent him to anger management, and watch him grow personally through his letters never sent to Larry King. He takes up an unlikely alliance with the other kids who are considered future jailbirds, dates a girl named Shelly with quite a history, and learns a lot about growing up into a respectable young man.
Full of sad and heartbreaking moments, warmth, and a lot of humor (I personally love how Beau taught his little brother to say "3 at last, 3 at last! Thank God almighty, I'm 3 at last!"), this is a book with situations anyone of any age can relate to, and you may also come away learning a bit about yourself as well. A highly recommended read that may lead you to a door of personal self discovery.
A must read for teens December 11, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I am an English teacher, and I believe that this is an excellent book. I use it for an 8th grade class. It allows them to confront issues in a safe environment; the book has a cast of realistic characters (not everyone has a Brady Bunch life). It is important for students to have the opportunity to talk about abuse, adolescent sex, homosexuality, and the like. They need to be able to take a stance on the issues. If a teacher used the book to push and agenda it would be different, but if kids are encouraged to use it as a catalyst to speak with parents and THINK it is wonderful.
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