(3) YA Annie's foster family takes good care of her, but she won't let go of her troubled "bio family." She devises a way to see them: at a basketball tournament, her team purposely drops into the losers' bracket, resulting in more games for Annie's birth family members to attend. Annie's first-person narrative, with intermittent transcripts from her therapist visits, is that of a smart, athletic teen surviving the family she has and finding the support system she needs.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider

(4) YA Even though Paulie knows he deserved to get dumped, he is frustrated when Arney, one of his close friends, tries to pursue Hannah. Things get more confusing when one of the girls from their lunch hangout group disappears and Arney appears connected. This is a well-paced thriller but also a melodrama in which many of the events are far-fetched.

Reviewer: Randy Ribay

(3) YA In this collection of three novellas, Crutcher places his own characters from previous novels and short stories in situations outside their original time and place. The book's conceit--these characters all attend the same counseling seminar--fails to bind the tales together; happily, each stands on its own. Though Crutcher's voice occasionally intrudes, the stories are tight enough to prevent message from overrunning plot.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2009

(2) YA After learning he has one year to live, eighteen-year-old Ben Wolf decides to keep the information to himself. He becomes an autodidact, challenging the meaningless drivel taught in high school. Ben gradually realizes his decisions are more complicated than he first knew. Crutcher's latest is an exhilarating read that will make readers wonder about their own lives' meanings.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2007

(4) YA Although dead from an accident, Billy narrates this tale about his misfit best friend, Eddie. While both Billy and Eddie are confidently evoked with Crutcher's winning blend of pathos and humor, their story is burdened by message and self-indulgence as it becomes a predictable tale of school censorship.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2005

(2) YA Novelist and short story writer Crutcher has discovered his most effective voice in this collection of episodic, autobiographical essays. Most of the stories serve as introductions to his meditations on such subjects as anger or heroism or religion or cruelty--themes that inform all his work. Crutcher concludes that life gives him "a rich pool for stories"; he, in turn, shares that gift with readers.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2003

(2) YA T.J., an exceptional athlete who has refused to play on the school teams, agrees to lead a start-up swim team only to buck the system by signing up every needy misfit he can find and ensuring that each will win a letterman's jacket. This book has lots of melodrama, but Crutcher knows his stuff, and he pumps adrenaline through the sports scenes while honestly acknowledging the personal struggles of his adolescent readers.

Reviewer: Lauren Adams | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2001