Bel Air, Maryland 21014
September 3rd, 2010
Dear TJ,
My name is Andrew B., and I enjoyed reading about how interesting your swim team is. My summer was really fun, but I probably know that you had a hectic summer. Over the summer, I went to the beach in Delaware with my cousins for a week and that was a blast, and I also did a lot of little things that were fun, too. I also went to a lot of baseball games around the state of Maryland and I also went to Pennsylvania and Virginia. I had so much fun that I really did not want to go to school again, considering this is my first year of high school. I bet you were just trying to relax over your summer, and I cannot blame you. You are probably happy just to be home without any dangers in your way and I am so sorry that your dad died and I hope you can get through it safely.
I thought the book you were in was interesting but scary at the same time. I liked how you made a swim team and invited the kids who did not fit in well, especially Chris. I was upset and mad when the jocks at your school would make racial comments and made fun of you just for a letter jacket. I really thought the swim team made you feel a lot better because you could spend time with kids who trusted you. I did not like all the violence that occurred in the book and I thought you could have handled some situations a lot better. The one situation that I thought you handled superbly was when Rich Marshall shot your dad at Hoopfest. I liked how you did not try to get revenge on Rich and you stayed away from him so he could get in trouble. Overall, I thought the novel you were in was interesting but it could have been a lot more positive.
I thought Chris Crutcher’s writing style during the book was good at some moments but really bad at other moments of the book. He constantly made you and a lot of other characters say a lot of bad words, including the “f” word, so I was not okay with that aspect. I also did not like how he wanted to solve problems with violence all the time. I did like how he would add a lot of mystery to the problems that grabbed my attention and it made me want to read on. I thought the writing style was somewhat realistic with you and other characters trying to solve problems in a humane way but it was not realistic when you would hurt someone to get revenge.
There are many questions I would like to ask you, like how did you handle all the stress that was put on you or what made you want to start a swim team in the first place. Some other questions would be how could you even handle all the racial comments said to you and how does it feel to be an adopted child. I thought the event where you and your swim team got your letter jackets was a proud moment for you because you went through all the struggle and you proved that anyone can get letter jackets no matter who they are. I also thought a turning point was when your dad was shot because it would change your life forever and it would make you think of all you have been through up to that point
The main issue in the book for you was racism and prejudice. You could have dealt with this issue in school in numerous ways. First, you could have gone to your principle and told him that people were being racist to you and the principle would make them stop immediately. Secondly, you could go to a trusted adult and tell them what is happening to you at school,, and then they would know what to do. If you want to take a bigger step, you could argue against city court and they could pass laws about racial issues. This novel will leave me thinking why you were being discriminated anyway in the first place.
Hopefully you can receive this message and I am saying goodbye to you. I hope you do well in life, and I want you to stand up to racism at your school.
Sincerely,
Andrew B.
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