This collection of short stories are often found on the ALA challenged book list. It has been challenged because it has a story that has an 18 year old boy befriending a man with AIDS, because it discusses homosexuality and because of its language. Chris Crutcher, though, is an expert at what he does-writing about reality. He said, "They think kids should not be exposed in print to what they are exposed in their lives. But I believe what I believe, so I write my stories." (Crutcher even has a whole section on censorship on his website: http://www.chriscrutcher.com/content/blo... ) I, personally, find it spectacular that such a contemporary set of short stories was published in 1991!

Throughout these 6 stories we follow 6 different young adult males that are facing some daunting situations. Angus doesn't fit in and neither does his family, Johnny has a tough father, Petey was forced into facing a girl at a wrestling match, Lionel lost his family in a boating accident and is now an orphan, Telephone Man is a racist that may have found the light, and Louie is a boy faced with his own prejudice. Crutcher, through these fantastic short stories, takes us through these situations with grace and realism.

Discussion questions I made for a book challenge I competed in:

Basic book questions
*Some of the short stories had characters from some of Crutcher's other novels, did you feel that made it hard to connect to the characters and understand their stories?
*Did you feel the prefaces at the beginning of each story were helpful or hurtful?
*Crutcher often intertwines sports into his stories- do you think that is an effective way of introducing these hard topics? Do you think girls would find this novel as friendly as boys would?

Thought Provoking Hard Questions
*Crutcher says, "We are all bigots. All of us prejudge people on some basis, be it race, sexual preference, height, age or any scores of categories we use to make ourselves seem superior when we are, in fact, feeling inferior." Do you agree?
*Do you agree with parents in Iowa who did not want their 8th graders exposed to this novel? What age do you feel it is appropriate for?
*This book was published in 1991, way before there was mainstream LGBT young adult literature. Now this book is not purely LBGT, but includes stories that could be categorized as such. How do you think it was accepted at the time of publication?