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The Sledding Hill

3.65 of 5 stars 3.65 · rating details · 997 ratings · 143 reviews

Billy Bartholomew has an audacious soul, and he knows it. Why? Because it's all he has left. He's dead.

Eddie Proffit has an equally audacious soul, but he doesn't know it. He's still alive.

These days, Billy and Eddie meet on the sledding hill, where they used to spend countless hours -- until Billy kicked a stack of Sheetrock over on himself, breaking his neck and effectiv...more

Hardcover, 240 pages

Published May 10th 2005 by Greenwillow Books

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Nov 08, 2012 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by Long Nguyen for TeensReadToo.com

Washington State native and young adult literature veteran Chris Crutcher is no stranger to censorship. Many of his critically acclaimed novels have been persecuted for their content and use of "inappropriate language," as well as the thematically taboo nature of the stories themselves. THE SLEDDING HILL, Crutcher's latest novel, deals with the issue of censorship, and the struggle students, as well as pro-literature advocates, must undergo to ensure t...more Reviewed by Long Nguyen for TeensReadToo.com

Washington State native and young adult literature veteran Chris Crutcher is no stranger to censorship. Many of his critically acclaimed novels have been persecuted for their content and use of "inappropriate language," as well as the thematically taboo nature of the stories themselves. THE SLEDDING HILL, Crutcher's latest novel, deals with the issue of censorship, and the struggle students, as well as pro-literature advocates, must undergo to ensure the right to read contemporary works.

Narrated by the "spirit" of the recently deceased Billy Bartholomew, Billy tells the tale of his best friend Eddie Proffit, who in the course of three months was the first to discover the dead bodies of both his father as well as Billy. Dealing with the trauma of what happened, Eddie decides to stop speaking altogether, sheltering himself from communication with the people around him. With both his father and Billy gone, Eddie is soon pressured by a local church figure to take the plunge into 'salvation' and join the church. But alas! Billy isn't going to let something as trivial as death come between him and his best friend. With the help of Billy (or rather, his spirit?), Eddie is able to cope and come to terms with, in his eyes, what the right thing to do is.

In each of Crutcher's novels, it is nearly guaranteed that at least some kind of issue is directly put into discussion and, indeed, THE SLEDDING HILL is a story of the censorship of books read by students in schools. Cleverly written, Crutcher manages to poke fun with his writing by instilling himself as the author of the controversial pseudo-novel Warren Peece (pun very much intended). Full to the absolute brim with important questions and thought-provoking answers, what else would one expect from a Chris Crutcher novel?

I personally find any and all of Chris Crutcher's novels incredibly well-written, and very entertaining for the likes of a teenage attention span. The issues tackled are strongly influenced and make good discussion topics as well as a progressive voice for young ears to hear. Anyone who found the heated debates between the uber-conservative Christians and the liberal-minded protagonists from STAYING FAT FOR SARAH BYRNES (an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, and highly recommended by yours truly) is sure to appreciate Crutcher's whole-hearted commitment towards all human being's rights to certain freedoms, including the right to read contemporary literature containing modern ideas, no matter how verboten they may sound. (less)

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Jan 04, 2008 rinabeana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A (librarian) friend of mine gave this to me for my birthday. I blew through it in about a day and quite enjoyed it. The story is narrated by the deceased Billy, who could be zooming about the universe, but chooses to stay with Eddie until he's better able to deal with his loss. I thought Crutcher had a very good blend of humor while dealing with difficult issues. It would be easy for Eddie (and the reader) to sink into a deep depression, but the presence of Billy and his tongue-in-cheek omnisci...more

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Jun 01, 2008 Eric rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: those that are against censorship of books

This book was a book that directly attacked censorship. In this story, a church is functioning in a school to try to attack and prevent or censor a book by Crutcher because of the contents in the story. They are trying to use Eddie who recently has just lost his father and his best friend to 2 accidents on a one year span. He since hasn't spoken to anyone except for his dead best friend's father. The church is trying to use him to attract attention since he is popular after the incidents to have...more

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Jan 25, 2009 Jaemi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-fiction

Meet Billy B, recently deceased, due to an unfortunate incident with a stack of sheetrock, who has stayed about to try to help console his best friend, Eddie Proffit, who was unfortunate enough to find Billy, within months of also finding his own father dead due to a similarly freakish accident. And get ready to laugh.

As grim as the underpinnings of this story may be, you'll likely be cracking up by the end of the excerpt on the cover. I was. Nine pages into it I was saying "It's hysterical." Wh...more

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Jan 21, 2009 Becca rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The only reason I gave this book four out of five stars is because I have such incredibly high expectations for Chris Crutcher.

His books are truly amazing. I have yet to read one without breaking out in tears at a particularly poignant moment. Crutcher has a phenomenal ability to distill truth.

That being said, this book did not grab me as much as his books normally do. I mean, I was able to put it down and go to sleep last night! The later half of the book is more true to Crutcher's style and...more

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May 20, 2013 Baxtejon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Sledding Hill
My rating for the book The Sledding Hill written by Chris Crutcher is a 4 out 5 stars.

This book is from the perspective of a young boy named Billy Bartholomew. Billy died in a sledding accident and is now helping his friend Eddie Profit deal with his life after the tragic loss of his best friend. The way that Billy and Eddie communicate is they meet on the sledding hill. Eddie has become silent ever since his loss and Billy tries to help him through it.

I think that the main...more The Sledding Hill
My rating for the book The Sledding Hill written by Chris Crutcher is a 4 out 5 stars.

This book is from the perspective of a young boy named Billy Bartholomew. Billy died in a sledding accident and is now helping his friend Eddie Profit deal with his life after the tragic loss of his best friend. The way that Billy and Eddie communicate is they meet on the sledding hill. Eddie has become silent ever since his loss and Billy tries to help him through it.

I think that the main strength of this book is how it tells a story of from a perspective of someone who is dead. This is something that keeps the book intruiging and made it a very quick read. This also is good because most books where there are ghosts and things like this would be science fiction. However, this book does not have the same elements that a science fiction book would have in it, instead it feels like a realistic fiction with the real characters and setting. This difference makes the book more fun to read. Another thing that this book does well is the situations the characters are going through and how they deal with them. I say this because the subject of a young child dying is not something that is in every book you read. The author is bold in writing this which makes the more interesting.This makes the book more interesting because this is something that few authors explore and that makes it different in a good way.

I think that the group who could enjoy this book the most would be people who have suffered a loss at a young age. I say this because they might be able to relate to the characters in a more emotional way than someone who would not understand the situation. Being able to connect with the characters is important which is why I say this but anyone with a childhood should be able to relate to the main character. I say this because Billy is a pretty typical kid up until his accident. Another group who would like this book is people who enjoy reading. I say this because there is some talk about book censorship which any reader would have a side to.(less)

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May 17, 2013 Foxmit rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I give Sledding Hill by Chris Crutcher a 1 out of 5 stars.

Eddie Proffit is a strange boy, to most people. He has a hard time focusing in school. His friend Billy discovers that when Eddie moves around and paces back and forth he can focus better on whatever he is working on. Once this discovery is put to test Billy finds out Eddie is quite smart. But when the death of Billy and Eddies father take place only weeks apart Eddie has a hard time learning and finding joy in life.

Once Eddies father and...more

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May 16, 2013 Hunter Nehls rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: memoir

My overall rating of The Sledding Hill is a 4 out of 5 stars.

In a small town, there are two boys who are bestest of friends. One of them named Eddie has a brain condition that causes his brain to bounce from idea to idea. Eddie is a very smart kid with a IQ almost into the triple digits. His best-friend Billie is also a very smart kid. Eddie loses his father in a fatal tire accident. A month later he loses his best-friend Billie, do to a fatal accident. So when Eddie finds a book that makes him...more

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May 11, 2013 Reden rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I rate this book The Sledding Hill by Chris Crutcher at a 3 star

In the beginning of this book Eddie Proffit lost his father and had his best friend Billy there to help him get through everything. After a while Billy died by getting stuck under sheetrock. Eddie goes to school one day and decided to get into a underground book club.

I thought that the main strength of this piece was Eddie and Billy’s friendship. After Billy died he was still there for Eddie and got him through everything that he ne...more

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May 09, 2013 Brandt rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Sledding Hill is a decent but kind of sad book, overall I would rate this book a 2 star. Chris Crutcher is telling the story of a young man that lost his dad and best friend all in a matter of one summer. Although it is sad it can be hard to follow.

After Eddie lost his dad and best friend his life was turned around. He was lost and didn’t know what to do. He had another father figure try to step in but that didn’t really work out as they didn’t get along. Eddie finally found something that...more

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Apr 29, 2013 Jenna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult-novel

I rate this book, “The Sledding Hill” as a 5 star.

Eddie, a boy that loses both his father and close friend, has a hard time getting over the lose of those two people. He tries to get preoccupied by joining a underground book club and joins a jury to get rid of this book that they think is bad for the kids.

I thought that the most/biggest strength of this piece to me was Eddie getting over his father and friend dying in just a short amount of time, him seeing what happens. In the book it doesn’t s...more

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Apr 29, 2013 Gage rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The book The Sledding Hill by Chris Crutcher is a book I wish I would have never read. I do not want to think of it again. I would say that this book is a 1.5 out of 5 stars.

This book is about a kid named billy that has only one friend named Eddie. Eddie and Billy are both in cross country. They love to run. But when Billy dies and Eddies dad die Eddie turns into a mute. The story goes on still in Billy’s point of view when he dies. Which is why i started to hate the book. When you look at the...more The book The Sledding Hill by Chris Crutcher is a book I wish I would have never read. I do not want to think of it again. I would say that this book is a 1.5 out of 5 stars.

This book is about a kid named billy that has only one friend named Eddie. Eddie and Billy are both in cross country. They love to run. But when Billy dies and Eddies dad die Eddie turns into a mute. The story goes on still in Billy’s point of view when he dies. Which is why i started to hate the book. When you look at the book you don't expect it being a spiritual book, which is probably why it caught me off guard

A good Strenght in this book is the ending and the authors imagination. The reason why i say the ending is because the speech the girl gave and all the good points she made drew me in. I'm not going to lie though. the ghost/spirit thing was creative, but it just wasn't my cup of tea i guess.

This book has some weaknesses. Such as the title of the book. I honestly don't think it fits with the book because when i see the title I picture it being revolved around a sledding hill. It was not in any way shape or form. Another weakness in this book is that it had way too many italics. In some areas it seemed reasonable to put a certain word in italics, but the italics was over used. It got me really annoyed. For example, ““Man”, Eddie says, “The school janitor takes a chance because he does like these kids and because he wants to do something nice for somebody after his own kid is gone, and he just finished reading the book to them.” (Crutcher 196). I kind of understand the fact that the author italicised the world does because it is stressing that he does actually like the children. But the janitor being italicised? I don't get the point of that. He is a janitor, what else do i need to know? Maybe i just don't get the hole italicising thing . . .

Some considerations that you should take into play like i said already is that this book is in a ghost point of view. I didn't like this but you might.

The type of people that will like this book are the ones that are interested in ghost stories, you don't have to be a boy or girl to enjoy this book. Also if you have ever been in a situation of someone dying and you found it hard to get over, this book would be for you. In this book the thing that eddie and billy love to do is running, they are in the sport cross country together. So if you're a runner this book might be for you.

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Nov 08, 2011 Courtney Cashman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I would recommend “The Sledding Hill” by Chris Crutcher because it talks about how two best-friends connect while one is dead. “Your my friend, and you’ll always be my friend. Dead or alive. And I wanted you to know everything turns out okay, so you don’t have to be afraid, and you can do what you need to do whenever you need to do it.” “I really don’t like you being so confident and everything,” he says. “That’s all backward.” (P.156) From this line, I could tell that Billy was trying to tell...more I would recommend “The Sledding Hill” by Chris Crutcher because it talks about how two best-friends connect while one is dead. “Your my friend, and you’ll always be my friend. Dead or alive. And I wanted you to know everything turns out okay, so you don’t have to be afraid, and you can do what you need to do whenever you need to do it.” “I really don’t like you being so confident and everything,” he says. “That’s all backward.” (P.156) From this line, I could tell that Billy was trying to tell Eddie that everything will be okay no matter what happens. Eddie chuckles and he can’t believe he’s actually talking to Billy. To me, this is the meaning of true best-friends. In teenage life, we have best-friends and we are really close with them. From reading this book, I think other kids my age would like it. “You won’t need me,” I tell him. “Your way farther along than I am, Eddie. I won’t leave until you say its okay, how about that?” Billy says. “You promise?” Eddie asks.” From this line, I caught on that Billy deeply cares about Eddie. He wants to watch over Eddie as long as he can, but Billy knows he has to stop at some point. And he does stop watching over him. This line also tells me that Eddie doesn’t want Billy out of his life because he is such a big part of it. They have been through a lot together and they don’t want that to fade away. That is just how teenage friendships are. We don't want to leave eachother's side because we do everything together. “Right. If you let them take this one away, you give them the right to take everything. It’s about freedom man.” From this line, I could tell that Billy was giving Eddie good advice. Throughout the whole book, great advice is given to both characters. To me, I think advice is key to the story. Teenage kids give eachother advice on which decisions to make and not to make. I think that makes the reader interested in the book because it is based on what happens in daily life. Many more interesting, action packed scenes are in the story, but I don’t want to give everything away! All I can say is that I enjoyed this novel because it shows the meaning of true best-friends.
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Nov 02, 2011 Kayla rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Sleding Hill is about a boy named Eddie who can talk to his dead best friend Billy. Eddie had been the one to find his dad laying in his garage dead and then three mounths later finds his friend Billy trapped under 250 pounds of sheetrock dead. Eddie starts to have "hulitionations" that Billy is talking to him. As the story goes on Eddie relizes that it really is Billy who is talking to him. During this time Eddie had gone mute and was now taking classes to be baptized. But his plan is to t...more

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Oct 30, 2009 Nathan Clifton added it · review of another edition

The most interesting concept about this book that kept me intrigued was the fact about the boy who had an imaginary friend. As a matter of fact is was pretty funny because he had a girl that he liked and he was talking to his imaginary friend about how he peed in the bed the night earlier. My favorite character in this whole entire book was Eddie. The reason for my liking was because he was an understanding person but at the same time he had an imaginary friend. I would recommend this book to pe...more

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Oct 14, 2011 Stephanie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-middle-school-reading

Where do I start in naming all the reasons I love this story? I love that this story is told by a dead guy. I love that the story deals with true friendship and loss and censorship. I love that Chris Crutcher has written himself into his own story as a side character in such a clever, humorous, ans self-deprecating way. I love that the most thoughtful, articulate, profound guys are the high school janitor and the gas station attendant. I love that the phrase What Would Jesus Do? is answered in t...more

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Aug 02, 2011 Linda Lipko rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

Eddie and Billy are best real life friends, until Billy accidentally kicks a pile of sheet rock that rapidly cascades and kills him. Sadly, within the span of a very short time, Eddie losses both his best friend and his father to freak accidents.

Knowing his friend has a lack of social skills and is also in emotional pain, Billy decides to hang around before passing on to the next level. Thus, his spirit regularly visits Eddie to provide guidance.

When the nasty small-town preacher decides to use...more

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Oct 09, 2012 Jo Sorrell rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ironically, I picked up this book to read during Banned Book Week. The reason was; I was going to a Chris Crutcher lecture at ASU and had not read one of his books in a few years. The Sledding Hill is about a controversial, while ficticious book entitled "Warren Peece." A teacher at the local high school in small town Idaho, chooses this Chris Crutcher book for her class to read even though she knows it might be controversial. She sends permission letters home to be signed and offers another tit...more

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Mar 24, 2008 Rochelle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The cleanest Crutcher book ever. And because of that, not his best, but a good middle school read nonetheless. The story is ripped out of real life, and I love that he puts himself in the story as a writer that is being censored. My favorite thing, though is the librarian character that teaches a class called "Really Modern Literature" and of course risks losing her job because of the books the kids are reading under her direction.

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Jul 23, 2012 Weston Kincade rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was recommended to me and I found it quite enjoyable. I would also like to recommend it. It is a true story of learning to cope with death, but also close-mindedness and people trying to push their values on others. One thing I found rather odd though, was the integration of another of Crutcher's books and even of Crutcher himself into the plot of this book. The controversy it provoked in the school and community was certainly realistic. I've never seen the integration of author and ot...more

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Apr 11, 2013 Sara Titus rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I rate Chris Crutcher’s book The Sledding Hill 1 out of 5 stars.
In this book The main characters Eddie and Billy go through alot together and it explains what happens to Eddie after 2 major deaths in his life.

The main strength of this book is how it doesn't skip around from one thing to another. Most of the time it is talking about one thing. It makes it easier for the reader to understand what's going on when its mostly talking about the same thing throughout the whole book. It keeps the story...more

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Jan 12, 2009 Waller rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am generally fond of Crutcher's work, and there is certainly no questioning the sincerity of this one, but it struck me as too obviously driven by a single agenda, as opposed to his other novels which, for all that they have a point to make, manage to intermingle a variety of themes. Technically, I suppose there are two themes here - how to deal with the death of a loved one (in this case, a father and a best friend), and censorship. The book being challenged is a fictional novel by a writer n...more

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Jul 27, 2012 April rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have to say that I loved this book. I don't rate books a 5 star unless I absolutely love it. The Sledding Hill is about a boy who loses his dad and his best friend within months of each other. He feels pressure from the preacher to become baptized. He misses his dad and his friend. Then he is introduced to a book (fictional) by Chris Crutcher. This book makes him realize that he isn't alone in the world and feels like he has friends again.

******************************************************...more

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Oct 21, 2009 Brandon O'Neill rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: youthlit

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 20, 2012 Patrick rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The sledding Hill, by Chris Crutcher features a boy named Eddie Proffit, who has not been having the best luck in the past few months. First his father dies, and then his best friend Billy accidentally kicks a stack of Sheetrock on top of himself killing him. When Eddie sees Billy under the Sheetrock with a very pale face and white lips, Eddie can't look because he thinks that he wouldn't be able to hold his best friend while he was dead. When he gets assigned a certain book that draws his atten...more

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Nov 20, 2012 Sarah rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-seventh-grade

The Sledding Hill by Chris Crutcher is a fairly mature book featuring the thoughts of loss, friendship, and loyalty to one's beliefs. I would recommend this book to people in Middle School and over. I would recommend it to this age group because it includes mature thoughts and expressions that may be too difficult to understand if you are too young. I don't think this was a book for me, but that doesn't mean that its not a book for anyone else. The Sledding Hill is about a teenager, Eddie Proffi...more

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Jun 13, 2012 Luell rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 08, 2011 Harrison L rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The book “the sledding hill” by Chris Crutcher is a pretty boring book, mainly because it switches to different topics quickly and nothing happens. “I was at school when my grades got better and I decided that I might get baptized at the church.” Page 107-108.”I was in the hot springs and saw that sheet rock and read my book in my room and then tarter came in”.page 80-81 “tarter went to get baptized and then was in eddies house. My evidence supports my claim because it shows how the book goes ba...more

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Nov 27, 2009 Morgan F rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, preston-public-library, goodreads-author

I have to say this book made me laugh. Not because it was funny, but because I had to give props to the author. I mean this book was just a giant promotion for Chris's work. Having yourself as a character in a non-autobiographical novel and then bashing your character? Bold indeed. Anyway, for a novel about censorship and a dead narrator, I thought it lacked depth. It read too quickly, and the reader never really connected with the characters. I expected concepts that I never heard of and that m...more

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Dec 08, 2008 Lori rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a great story of commitment and friendship between two young kids, Eddie and Billy. Eddie is ADHD and he is always getting into trouble at school. Eddie is extremely intelligent, yet his teacher’s do not see this side of him. But his friend Billy sees his tremendous potential. Unfortunately, Billy is killed suddenly and Eddie is lost and alone.
The best part of the book is that Billy becomes a ghost and still helps Eddie with his life. Eddie’s dad died when he was young and his mom is dat...more

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About Chris Crutcher

Chris Crutcher's writing is controversial, and has been frequently challenged and even banned by individuals who want to censor his books by removing them from libraries and classrooms. Running Loose and Athletic Shorts were on the ALA's top 100 list of most frequently challenged books for 1990-2000. His books generally feature teens coping with serious problems, including abusive parents, racial...more

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