Booktalking Colorado - Full Booktalk Record

Booktalking Colorado Full Record:

	Title:	Whale Talk
	Author:	Crutcher, Chris
	Date Published:	2001
	Genre:	Real Life
	Grade Level:	7 - 12
	Booktalker:	Sam Marsh

Booktalk:
Tiger Woods on steroids. That’s how Mr. Simet describes me. But don’t forget to take into account the rest. Orphaned at an early age and raised by wonderful parents who kept me out of trouble. Learned to tell the wheat from the chaff. Natural athlete, but not into the jock mentality. Competed to compete, not to prove I’m better then anyone, or to say my school is better then theirs. Ostracized early for my mixed heritage, then for my resistance to ‘organized sports’ in a jock school. The Tao Jones Glenda, my bio mother, named me while she was whacked out on some mood-altering drug. So, I became T.J. to avoid the jokes and embarrassment. I got enough hassles from my heritage. One day I saw Barbour, the football jock, messing with Chris Coughlin because Chris was wearing his brother’s letter jacket. At Cutter High School, you weren’t allowed to wear a letter jacket unless you had earned it yourself. Some History: Chris is big-time special Ed. Born addicted to crack cocaine, his mom’s boyfriend wrapped his face in Saran Wrap to stop the crying. He didn’t ‘mean’ to cause the resulting brain damage. Chris’ older half-brother, Brian was a legend around Cutter for his Herculean feats in football and baseball and being drafted by the Reds for their farm system. A freak rock-climbing accident ended his story, and poor old Chris was left with a famous dead big brother. So, Chris was guilty of proudly wearing the letter jacket of the dead big brother whom he loved. I’ve always had a thing about people who step on the downtrodden. Must be something about my past. So, I decided to take Mr. Simet up on his request to head up the first Cutter swim team, and to help recruit the other members. I was determined to help Chris earn his own letter jacket and rub Barbour’s face in it. ‘Course, there was the fact that Cutter had no swimming pool, and that the only thing available was the miniscule All Night Fitness center. But, determination and Revenge are powerful allies. So, I set out to sign up what turned out to be an amazing group of misfits to join the Cutter All Night Mermen. But revenge is seldom a positive emotion as I would be tragically reminded.