Crash | Jerry Spinelli | "Hut, Hut, Hut:"

Crash | Jerry Spinelli | Crash

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Crash

	Crash Jerry Spinelli Laurel Leaf, 2004 - 176 pages average customer review:based on 201 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Now available in paperback, Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli's hilarious, poignant story of cocky seventh-grade superjock Crash Coogan.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

"Hut, Hut, Hut:"

I'm thinking of a five-letter word for a good, realistic book, and Crash is the word I'm looking for. It's by Jerry Spinelli, and if you like him, this is probably the best book he's written. Like most books by Spinelli, it's about someone different, but understands a precious lesson to be learned. In this case, the different person is Penn Webb. Penn is a vegetarian, a Quaker (doesn't like war), a cheerleader, believes he is rich (even though he lives in a small house with little furniture) and was named after the famous track meet that his great-grandfather ran in, the Penn Relays. These are some of the reasons he is considered different. He is slow to learn, maybe not in math or science, but in the way things work, like when he wondered why people kept pinching him, until he finally finds out that there was a "pinch me" sign on his back. The only close to normal thing that Penn does is run.
Crash and his friend Mike like bullying Penn. They never get caught and Penn never realizes who is doing it. But one day, when Crash gets a hold of Penn's writing assignment that talks about how he wants to run in the Penn Relays so his great- grandfather can watch, he realizes that Penn is rich. Penn has happiness despite all his differences. So when the seventh graders race for a spot to run in the Penn Relays, Crash lets Penn win.
I liked this book because it shows many important lessons to be learned. I believe that it demonstrates that most people have lost the ability to be themselves, and when someone has that ability, they are considered "different". The author made every page so descriptive that you couldn't stop turning the pages until you were done with it. And if you like a funny, great book,one with a strong meaning, this will be the best book you have ever read.

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Crash

My eleven year old son had to read this book for sixth grade english. He loved the book. He liked it so much he read it in only three days. Thanks. KO

A superb lesson about what is really important in life

John (Crash) Coogan is a large, swift boy currently in middle school. His speed and size make him a superb football player and his personality matches his name. He is full of himself, a bully and considers anyone not like him to be targets. A Quaker family with a boy named Penn Webb moves into the neighborhood and Crash immediately begins to torment Penn. Penn takes it like a Quaker, although Crash considers him a sissy.
There are other problems in the Coogan household. Both parents work seventy hour weeks trying to make it big and Crash and his younger sister Abby are often left on their own. Things change when their uncle Scooter comes to live with them. He is ex-navy and tells them enchanting stories about everything. Penn's family is politically and socially active and that rubs off on Abbey. She goes with them to protest the building of a mall and she turns their backyard into a wildlife sanctuary. Crash's response to all of this is to turn even more arrogant and obnoxious.
All of this changes when Scooter has a debilitating stroke. Crash goes into a bit of a depression and when Penn gives up his prized possession that is supposed to be a miracle cure in an attempt to help Scooter, Crash takes Penn's side when Crash's friends bully him. When Crash and Penn run a race-off to determine who will run on the track team, Crash deliberately loses. From that point on, Crash gets the girl and Penn Webb is his best friend.
This is an excellent story about the arrogance of youth and how the quality of your possessions is no measure of the quality of your life. Crash had spent his life in competition with his friends for the quality of their possessions. Once he realizes the fallacy of that tactic, his life turns around and he becomes someone that cares about more than the price of his shirt and the number of touchdowns he has scored.

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C. Macomber Book Review

Crash is an incredible book by Jerry Spinell about a kid who is a jerk, a really good football player, and a track runner. There is also this kid named Penn Web who is really annoying and Crash has to learn to live with him or become a better person. Pen is also a really good track runner. Penn's great grandfather named him after the Penn relay. Penn will get a chance to run in the Penn relay if he can beat Crash in a race.

The book Crash is different from most books. In most books the main character or narrator is the nice one and in this book the main character and narrator are the mean ones and the antagonist is the nice one, which makes you think more about what is going on. Crash is a good read for 4th to 7th graders.

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Great book

My son needed this book to read over the summer for his 6th grade reading project. He loves the book and wishes the story continued.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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