Sledding Hill

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The Sledding Hill

If you liked Deadline by Chris Crutcher then you'll love The Sledding Hill. This is of the most amazing books I have ever read. This book is about a kid named Bill Bartholomew who died and how it affects his best friend Eddie profit. Billy unfortunately dies when going down the sledding hill. This is one of the most jaw dropping books I have ever read. The book tells Eddie Profits life through Billy Bartholomew. I got drawn to this book because Chris Crutcher wrote it. When I grabbed this book at the top it asked a question "If Billy Bartholomew is dead, what is he doing on the sledding hill? I wanted to know what was happening. Chris Crutcher is one of the best authors. He uses many surprising moments. I never expected for a story where a dead character is the narratot. This is one of the best books I have ever read.

Chris Crutcher

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 made me think, but instead it was the same old, same old. Overall, it was an okay read. After all, wasn't the whole point of the novel that any book that keeps kids interested worth reading?

the sledding hill review

The book "the sledding hill "is written by Chris Crutcher. The genre of this book is fiction. The plot of the story is that Eddies loved ones are dying and he can't deal with it. Eddies mom enrolls him in Sunday school at the church. Eddie gets in trouble at Sunday school because he asks questions about the story the teacher tells. In Eddies English class they start reading a book called Warren Peece. Eddie likes and finds hope in the book, but one of the teachers doesn't like it so the book is removed from the school. Eddie testifies the books removal at the church, but the church misinterprets Eddie and sends him to a mental hospital because they think that Eddie thinks he is Jesus. The main theme in this book is that Eddie needs to get his life back on track after his dad and best friend die. Eddies dad dies by a truck tire pops on his head when he is filling it up. The main characters are Billy Bartholomew and Eddie Profitt. Billy is Eddie's best friend and he is also the narrator. Billy dies by kicking sheetrock onto himself accidentally. Eddie is the troubled kid who can't do things right. Eddie is going through a hard time in life because his dad and friend died. The major conflict is that loved ones are dying and that Eddie had ADD, Attention defuses disorder. Eddie can not pay attention to any thing for long so he gets in trouble at school and everyone thinks he is dumb. Before Billy and Eddie's dad died he was getting help to do better in school. Eddies dad would work with Eddie every day to help him pay attention better and it was working. Eddie started doing well in school, but when he died Eddie started doing bad again. Writer style is to tell the story by a dead character that narrates the story as a ghost. The view point in this story is first person. Billy is telling the story in his point of view. I think the first person point of view is important because Billy know Eddie so he is able to tell the reader certain thing that couldn't be told with out it. If the view point was changed there probably wouldn't be as much information. The author didn't do a very good job on telling you that Billy was dead and in the life with Eddie. The book said that Billy died so it was weird when it said that when Eddie started asking dumb questions in class that Billy put his hand over his mouth to stop Eddie from continuing. Also it was hard to under stand the religious stories because I don't know them. This was an ok story, not the best I've read. I wouldn't recommend this book because it didn't have my interests. There wasn't very much action or surprise in the story and I like story with that kind of stuff.

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.

Fantasico!!

I loved this book. I had it as a athour projest in my 8th grade honors english class. It taught me about the theme such as the lessons that books can teach you, that strange people even dead people know more then they let on. I reomed this book to a lot of people these days.

Censorship

I thought that The Sledding Hill was a very interesting book. It talked about censhorship as well as how books can help teens through their struggles. I really enjoyed this book because it reminded me that how you think and what you read should be your choice, not the school's or church's.

Crutcher's done better

This book who's theme is book banning could have gone deeper. The companion theme that deals with death and despair would have evoked more emotion had the author allowed it. I initially was intrigued by the narration of a dead boy, but it soon became non-dramatic. Crutcher uses himself in this book to drive home an almost autobiographical message. The reader would be better served if he used another author in order not to confuse the issues. Crutcher claims in tis book through this method he is not one for revision. In the case of The Sledding Hill it could have stood for some. There are novel issues here, but they needed more meat!

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No text was provided for this review.