Crash by Jerry Spinelli

Meet Crash Coogan. Crash seems to be all brawn and no brains, but he will need more than mere muscles to face the upcoming challenges in his life. Now available in paperback, Award-winner Jerry Spinelli has created a hilarious, poignant story of a cocky seventh-grade super-jock.

My Thoughts:
This is about a kid in middle school so it's for kids, right? But there's so much in here that's nice for anyone to read about. I would absolutely recommend this book to any kid in middle school, especially boys who like sports since they'd relate really easily. This book was clean, poignant and actually pretty heartwarming. And funny. Not, like, laugh-out-loud funny but I smiled and was entertained, you know? I'm betting middle-school aged kids would find it funnier than I did.

So Crash is about a boy named Crash. Well, that's his nickname, anyway. He's your typical label-loving popular jock until something happens in his family that makes him see everything differently. One thing I loved was that feelings weren't really explained at all; Spinelli showed his readers everything but didn't waste the paragraphs explaining exactly what was going on in Crash's head. Thank you for thinking highly of us, Mr. Spinelli. We can understand complexities without it being spelled out for us.

I loved all the characters, too. Crash's progression felt natural. The way he was felt real. He acted like a pre-teen boy was a jerk sometimes but overall he was just a decent kid. His sister, Abby, was hilarious and I loved her. The way Crash's parents progressed throughout this story was nice, too. Since I absolutely agree that spending time with family is more important than having lots of money, I loved the message from this book. And the way it was delivered. Scooter was just about the best grandfather ever and his storyline made me sad. Which was the point. But, man. The ups and downs in this middle-school book. 

If you're looking for a short, nice read that is fun but also has a good moral message, then please, check it out. It's fast, it's mostly light, it's clean and you'll like it. If you have a middle-school-aged kid, though, or maybe as young as 10, they might love this book. Go get it for them.

Sexual Content: None
Language: None
Violence: Mild (football and boys roughhousing)
Drugs/Alcohol: None