Product Description

Now available in paperback, Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli's hilarious, poignant story of  cocky seventh-grade superjock Crash Coogan.  


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38950 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-11
• Released on: 2004-05-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 176 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780440238577
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Spinelli (There's a Girl in My Hammerlock) takes the brawny, bullying jock who is the villain in so many middle-grade novels and casts him as the narrator of this agile tale. Ever since first grade "Crash" Coogan has been tormenting dweeby Penn Ward, a skinny vegetarian Quaker boy who lives in a tiny former garage with his aged parents. Now that they're in seventh grade, "chippy chirpy perky" Penn becomes an even better target: not only does Penn still wear outdated used clothes, he joins the cheerleading squad. But even though Crash becomes the school's star football player and wears the most expensive togs from the mall, he still can't get what Penn has?his parents' attention and the admiration of the most gorgeous girl in school. And when his beloved grandfather Scooter is severely disabled by a stroke, Crash no longer sees the fun in playing brutal pranks and begins to realize that there are more important things in life than wearing new sneaks and being a sports star. Without being preachy, Spinelli packs a powerful moral wallop, leaving it to the pitch-perfect narration to drive home his point. All ages.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8?A winning story about seventh-grade Crash Coogan's transformation from smug jock to empathetic, mature young man. In a clever, breezy first-person style, Spinelli tackles gender roles, family relationships, and friendship with humor and feeling. As the novel opens, Crash feels passionately about many things: the violence of football; being in charge; the way he looks in shoulder pads; never being second in anything; and the most expensive sneakers at the mall. Although a stereotypical bully, the boy becomes more than one-dimensional in the context of his overworked, unavailable parents and the love he has for his grandfather, who comes to live with the Coogans and then suffers a stroke. It is because of his affection for Scooter that Crash comes to appreciate Penn Webb, a neighbor and classmate whom for years Crash has tormented and teased about his pacifism, vegetarianism, second-hand clothes, and social activism. Penn relentlessly offers friendship, which Crash finally accepts when he sees Penn's love for his own great-grandfather as a common bond. The story concludes as Penn, named by his great-grandfather for Philadelphia's famous Penn Relays, wins the school race while the elderly man looks on. Readers will devour this humorous glimpse at what jocks are made of while learning that life does not require crashing helmet-headed through it.?Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 5^-7. Seventh-grader Crash Coogan is a jock, a jokester, and a tormenter of dweeb Penn Webb. The book gets off to a hilarious start as Crash recalls his first meeting with Penn at age six. Penn, recently arrived from North Dakota, wears a button honoring that state's bird, which proclaims, "I'm a Flickertale." Let the hassling begin. From there, the plot becomes rather predictable. Crash's beloved grandfather comes to live with the Coogans, and when he suffers a stroke, Crash finds himself with a vein of empathy that wasn't evident before. At the book's conclusion, Crash and Penn are pitted against each other in a big race, but Crash, knowing that Penn's great-grandfather is there to watch, makes the ultimate sacrifice of compassion over competition. Spinelli's writing style is great for kids in this age-group, fast-paced and funny. And while it's plain where events are leading Crash, the strongly drawn characters, rather than the plot, become the focal point. Even though girls will read this, too, here's one for the boys. Ilene Cooper

Customer Reviews

A great book for people of all ages!
Imagine being nicknamed Crash. Now, imagine you got that name because when you were five you tackled your little cousin into a snow bank. This is the situation in Crash by Jerry Spinelli. This is a wonderful book that I greatly enjoyed. While I was reading, my favorite character had to definitely be John "Crash" Coogan. He was the reason I kept reading this book. The pranks he did as a young child were just, hilarious. For example, the time he first met Penn Webb, his Quaker neighbor, Webb had just moved from North Dakota and was wearing a button that said, "Hi, I'm a Flickertail." Webb explained how the Flickertail was the state bird in North Dakota, and Crash just ripped the button right off his shirt and buried the button. The next day, Webb was wearing another button. This time the button said, "Peace." Once again, Crash, tore the button right off his shirt and buried the button. On that same day, Crash also took Penn's turtle for a ride on his bike. Penn did not like that too, too much. Penn showed Crash his one toy-a raggedy, old Conestoga wagon. Crash thought that that was ridiculous, a kid with only one toy, and he laughed about the whole idea of having just one toy. Then, for dinner, they ate oatburgers. Being Quakers, of course, they were vegetarians. Crash didn't even know what a vegetarian was; he made fun of the whole family for being vegetarians. I find that to be the way kids really are, too. Those are just some of the events that occurred in the beginning that made me want to continue to read the book. I wanted to find out what happened to Penn and Crash as they began to grow older and go to school, where other kids might also find Penn a little weird because he was a Quaker. This was exactly what happened to Penn, especially, when Crash met his newest neighbor, Mike. Those two together treated Penn horribly, but the pranks went too far. Towards the end of the book, Mike and Crash start to veer away from each other. All the pranks pulled are another reason why I found this book to be so interesting. I never saw this coming, but Crash and Penn actually ended up as best friends because Mike took a prank too far, and Crash didn't like that idea. Those are just a few of the reasons why I felt that Crash was my favorite character, and he helped me to continue reading this wonderful book. Not only was Crash great, but I also like the way the author set up this book. He made the story very realistic with how the kids treated each other and how they grew up. I know when I was growing up, if a kid was different, like Penn Webb was, everyone made fun of him. As a matter of fact, some people my age 17 still do that. The time Crash went over Penn's house for dinner, and he basically made fun of Penn for everything he did. Which is another reason why I like the book so much. I liked the book for its realism, as much as I liked the book for its action. Although I do think Jerry Spinelli did take the book a little too far when he made Penn Webb and Crash Coogan best friends at the end. I don't think that Mike and Crash would have separated that much, to not even be friends anymore. Overall, the book Crash was very well set up and very realistic, but the book still had a lot of action. This is a wonderful book that I greatly enjoyed. I would definitely want to read other stories by Jerry Spinelli. He seems to be a great writer and knows what he is writing about. I would recommend this book to a little younger age level than I, maybe 14-15, but the story was great and could be enjoyed by anyone that wants to read the book Crash.

A good book
In the story Crash, there is a boy named Crash Coogan, who is the best athlete the school has. He never comes in second in anything, and he has all the latest clothes from the malls. At school there is a nerdy kid who is a vegetarian, wears passed down clothes, and has no social skills what so ever. Crash and his best friend Mike have always teased him. Now that Crash is a star football player he thinks he can do what ever he wants. Penn, the kid they pick on, makes Crash and Mike have a better time making fun of him. The way he does that is he now joins the school cheerleading team. Later on in the story Crash starts to realize that he has been doing the wrong thing all this time. As Mike keeps the joke going Crash has to make a decision. That is, should he defend Penn or stick with the bullying.
This is a good story to suggest for someone who is a sports fan, but also a bully. The reason I would say that is because if you are a bully you can see how Crash had to face his problem. Crash learns a lesson. The lesson is that you should never make fun of someone just because they want to do their own thing. Also you should picture yourself in Penn shoes. How you would like being picked on? What if you liked to play football just like Crash, and being picked on because you don't have the best clothes or you didn't play a man sport?
In conclusion, I really liked this book. It has taught me a lesson that there are people who don't always have a perfect life. You don't need to have the most popular clothes or be the most popular person. Also, you do not need to be a star player. You should always do what you want and not what others do to other people. That is why I like this book.

Insensitive "jock" learns the true meaning of friendship
Crash Coogan is befriended by the new school "dweeb" and does everything he can to discourage the friendship that Penn Web so badly wants. Crash insults and humiliates Penn, but Penn keeps coming back. Only when Crash's adored grandfather, Scooter" becomes ill, does Crash find out who his real friends are, and the true meaning of friendship. I am a librarian in an elementary school in New York. I read this book to my 5th grades last year. I have had to buy mulitple copies of the book. One year later I still cannot keep it on the shelf. Jerry Spinelli's works have changed once reluctant readers into avid fans who cannot get enough of his books!