VICTORIA

The award this book received: ALA award!!
Title: Athletic Shorts
Author: Chris Cruthcher
Type of Book (fantasy, humor, science fiction, mystery, biography, non-fiction): Fiction



PARAGRAPH 1
Main Character
Main Character: Jack
Describe this character: Very quiet and thinks that blacks will hurt him, just like his dad tells him. He wears telephone equipment everywhere he goes. He is very handy with telephones, and knows exactly how to work them and operate them.
The main character changes from hating blacks to wanting to be there friend by the end of the story.
The main character does the right thing when: He finally understands that blacks are not that bad and that they can be great friends if you take your time to get to know them, and try and understand the situation they come from.



PARAGRAPH 2
Other Characters
Another Character: Carl (dad), Andre (principle), Willie Weaver (kid that goes to the school)
Details: Jacks dad makes him believe that blacks are the worst people that ever lived on the planet, and one day when he blew up the bathroom (with his butt) one of the crippled kids snuck him out so that he could go home and change his clothes. As Jack was on his way to the bus he ran into a gang and guess what a big bully (that was colored) came and saved him from the gang that was trying to get his telephone belt.
Another Character: Carl (dad),
Details: hates the colors. And wants everyone else to hate them too.




PARAGRAPH 3
Setting
Describe the time and place of the story: at school
Comments about the setting (examples: setting makes story exciting, setting has an important effect on main character, setting is/is not exciting or new, setting increased my knowledge of something): in the bathroom he pooped everywhere and had to be snuck out by a classmate so no one would know.





PARAGRAPH 4
Theme

What is the author trying to say in this story? What is his lesson in life?
Is there a moral to this story? That you don’t always believe the things you parents tell you.
This is a story about (courage? working hard? doing the right thing? greed? importance of friends? jealousy? love? caring? happiness? sadness?)
Doing the right thing and the importance of friends.
This book showed me/I learned from this story: That you can’t always believe the things that your parents tell you and that you need to find you own opinion.
State a problem in the story and how it was solved: Jack hated blacks but then when one saves him from being beaten up by a gang he changes his mind about hating them.




PARAGRAPH 5
Plot: The Action/Summary of What Happened in the Story

Summary of the story (list up to 6 events that happened in the story; keep them in order):
1. Had to change schools.

2. Met his new principle and asked why he had to go here, and the principle said that he didn’t have to.

3. Got into a huge argument with the principle about having to go to the school but really not having to.





PARAGRAPH 5
Plot: The Action/Summary of What Happened in the Story

4. Woke up late for school, and ate Bisquick (non-cooked), and also scarfed down a container of strawberry shampoo.

5. While in language arts he felt his stomach turn and then rushed out of the room to the bathroom, and blew the bathroom up. A kid came in and saw the mess and jack hovered up in a corner naked. Willie went and got him clothes from the lost and found and helped him sneak out of school, so he could go home and change his clothes. But while on his way out he was surrounded by a gang, and was beaten for awhile.

6. Then a big colored kid came over and saved Jack from the gang. After that Jack wanted to hang with the colors and be friends with them too.





Evaluation of the Book

What did you think of the book? I thought that it was a great book it made me feel bad at times, it made me laugh at times, and it made me grossed out at times too, but I still loved it.
What did you like about the book? Everything
What didn’t you like about the book? Nothing really, I thought that it was all great.
Was the story confusing or hard to believe? No
Was the story predictable (could you guess what was going to happen?) Sometimes, but it still left me guessing
Was the story believable? Yes
The ending was Awesome I thought that it was the way to end the story. It leaves you guessing but in my opinion I like to be left guessing, but then again that is just me.



September 21, 2009

Dear Jack,
As I was reading about your situation in the book Athletic Shorts I noticed that your dad was lying to you throughout the book. I think that is really wrong. I know that the kids are suppose to trust their parents and that they are suppose to rely on them, but that is not always true. For starters you don’t go to jail if you don’t go to school, going to school is all up to you and your parents and what they think is best for you. Also coloreds are not all that bad; they can actually protect you in some situations, as you have figured out in the end of your story.
I think that the funniest but yet grosses part of your story was the part when it said that you ate the plain dried bisquick and then drank the strawberry shampoo. I would like to know were you half asleep or were you just that hungry and there was nothing better in the pantry. Also when I got to the part where you pooped all over the bathroom I also thought that was really degusting. But I still enjoyed your short story about your life.

Thank you,
Victoria