Chris Crutcher is in top form with a cast of characters-adults, children, and teenagers-fighting for dignity in a world where tragedy and comedy dance side by side, where a moment's inattention can bring lifelong heartache, and where true acceptance is the only prescription for what ails us. Superbly written, Chris Crutcher has a lot on his mind and in his heart. And the bus on which the Mermen travel to swim meets-piloted by Icko, the permanent resident of All, Night Fitness-soon becomes the cocoon inside which they gradually allow themselves to talk, to fit, to bloom. Whale Talk is too expansive, profound and boundless for its 220 pages. Still, it's always the quest that counts. is concerned) of all that is screwed up at Cutter High-will be an effective carving tool. is convinced that a varsity letter jacket-unattainable for most, exclusive, revered, the symbol (as far as T. High-school senior The Tao (T.J.) Jones has learned to live with his status as the only student of color in his small, rural high school, but he has never learned to accept the school's suffocating reverence for the athletic establishment. 12 books based on 23 votes: Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher, Deadline by Chris Crutcher, Ironman by Chris Cr. Jones (the J is redundant) to find their places in a school that has no place for them, the Cutter All Night Mermen struggle to carve out their own turf. by Chris Crutcher RELEASE DATE: April 30, 2001.

A group of misfits brought together by T. The good news is that only one of them can swim anyway.

The bad news is that they don't have a pool. There's bad news and good news about the Cutter High School swim team.