Chris Crutcher's stories are about the nitty gritty of real life

Every school has issues like abuse, suicide, abortion, and death.  Each student’s experience is as unique as his or her fingerprints.  The horrors some live through are unimaginable to their peers.  In his books Chris Crutcher shares some of those hard and politically incorrect truths about what occurs within the hallways of our public schools.  He also shows how those conflicts spill over into everyday life.  Bullying is real.  Domestic violence is real.  Racism is real.  Sexual abuse is real.  Life threatening illnesses are real.  Crutcher does not sugar coat these incidents.  He explicitly reveals the cruelties, ignorance, and pain that adults and young adults experience.  Crutcher's books lay open the  wounds of the “loners” and the “student role models” for all to witness...

an overview of three of Crutcher's books.   
Video by lhjan71

Chris Crutcher on Censorship: Shut up 
by GREENWILLOWBOOKS'S CHANNEL

Who is this guY!?!

Chris Crutcher is a former teacher and director of a K-12 alternative school in Oakland, California.  

Chris was a therapist for over twenty years and specialized in child abuse and neglect.  
                                                        
  Chris and his books have received many recognitions:

• American Bookseller Pick Of The Lists
• American Library Association’s (ALA) Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award.
• ALA Best Fiction For Young Adults
• ALA Best Of The Best Books For Young Adults
• ALA Booklist Editors' Choice
• ALA 100 Best Books for Teens of the Twentieth Century
• ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults 
• ALA Quick Pick For Reluctant Young Adult Readers
• ALA Top 10 Best Book for Young Adults 
• ALAN Award for a Significant Contribution to Adolescent Literature
• Book Sense Pick 
• California Young Reader Medal
• Horn Book Fanfare
• Intellectual Freedom awards from the National Council for Teachers of English
• Intellectual Freedom awards from the National Coalition Against Censorship
• Joan Fassler Memorial Book Award for Best Medical-Related Children's Book
• New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age
• Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader's Choice
  
• Parents' Choice Silver Honor
• School Library Journal Best Book
• School Library Journal Best Of The Best In YA Literature
• South Dakota Library Association Young Adult Reading Program (YARP) Best Books
• Texas Library Association Tayshas High School Reading List
• Washington State Book Award 

Those awards don't make him Boring

As a reviewer on TeenReads.com, Emily Mathieu says,
“He's got a wicked sense of humor … even when writing about the darkest side of humanity.  Crutcher's characters are the most true-to-life high schoolers I have ever read about”.
__________________________________________________

Katie Dekoster writes:  This book contains a lot of cursing. Most of Crutcher's stories do. Maybe that is why his work has appeared onBanned Book lists so many times. Honestly? I typically do not care for books with lots of cursing. I just usually find that it's distracting, possibly thrown in for shock value, and doesn't always add that much to the story. However! That is not at all the case with this author and his characters. They talk like real people, and real people aren't always polite. 
http://www.yabooklove.com/2010/06/angry-management.html_
__________________________________________________

“So I just finished Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher for Lit. Club.  And dear God, it was like reading all of Tumblr’s social-justice blogging, only it was realistic, relatable, and actually made sense. Not to mention the thought Crutcher put into it. Seriously guys. If you’re like me, drowning your way through an Ocean of social issues, especially abortion, suicide, and body images, that you can’t get a clear opinion out on, read this book.”
By robinminustherichard on tumblr
__________________________________________________

Go To Chris Crutcher's Official Site

You can go to the source and find out all  you ever wanted to know (or all Chris Crutcher ever wanted you to know) 
about Chris Crutcher at his official site:
Author & Loudmouth, Chris Crutcher

http://www.chriscrutcher.com/ (Click)

See our Fan Response page:  If you want to submit your own fan art to this site, go to this page:  http://thechriscrutcherproject.weebly.com/fan-responses.html

 Author Chris Crutcher Up close    BY PLUM TV - LIVE THE GOOD LIFE