Crash lives with his parents and younger sister, Abby. Crash's parents both work long hours and it seems like Crash and Abby take care of themselves a lot. At one point in the book, the family eats dinner together, a fact that does not go unnoticed by the children. Abby exclaims, "Notice anything? We all ate a meal together!" to which Crash responds, "Whoopee. Just like a real family," (Spinelli, pg. 48.) Shortly afterwards, Crash's grandfather, Scooter, moves in to help take care of the children. With Scooter, Crash isn't afraid to show a sensitive side. He narrates that he and Abby snuggle with Scooter at night because they like to hear his made up stories and it is where they both feel safe and secure. For me, Scooter was an integral part of the story because he made Crash more likable in my eyes. Up till that point, I didn't really enjoy his disagreeable character very much. Mocking Penn Webb's clothing "...he gets his clothes at Second Time Around. It means used. Like in used clothes. He wears rags that other people throw away," (Spinelli, pg. 46); reveling in the fact that the vice-principal called him a "loose cannon; refusing to leave the football game because he wanted to run up the score, made him completely obnoxious to me. Crash is so impressed with himself that he completely neglects to see everything else around him. The best example of this attitude is the Thanksgiving Day impromptu football game. During the family game, Crash makes a point to tackle his grandfather hard enough to cause a fumble. Scooping up the ball, he runs to the other side of the yard and "...spiked the ball in the endzone and did my TD dance..." (Spinelli, pg. 103). Crash can't pinpoint why he had to tackle Scooter, but later that night he silently watches Scooter sleeping in Abby's bed and realizes, "...he was just about as old as anybody I ever saw" (Spinelli, pg. 106). Finally, Crash starts to feel remorse for his actions and it is fitting that it was an incident involving Scooter to bring about this change.
What I've always enjoyed about Jerry Spinelli's writing is his ability to really capture the personality of his characters. Chapter 31 is his shortest one and it consists of Crash narrating, "Scooter is in the hospital" (Spinelli, pg. 107). With its brevity, Spinelli captures the worry, guilt, and fear that Crash is feeling. There is no need to expand on the sentence because the shortness of the thought emphasizes the anxiety Crash experiences. Thus begins Crash's transformation into realizing what he valued earlier isn't so crucial. Crash may not be aware of his change, but the reader is. When his best friend, Mike DeLuca, sprays Penn Webb with an Uzi watergun, Crash walks away. Crash gives Penn back the essay that Mike stole from him. Lastly, Crash "lets" Penn win the race off to determine who will be the last spot for the Penn Relay team. Finally, Crash is learning that winning football games and bullying kids who are "different" aren't the most important things in the world.
In chapter 2 of the text, Laura Robb mentions using pause points for book discussion. Pause points are "a place to stop, react, pose questions, and discuss - usually every three to five chapters" (Robb, pg. 30). Some pause points I could see using with the students would be asking students if the friendship between Crash and Mike Deluca is genuine; if Crash would be a different kid if his parents were home more often instead of at work; what effect does his grandfather, Scooter, have on Crash and why? It would be important to highlight why Crash and Mike torment Penn and it would be interesting to have the students present scenes from the book as a tableau vivant or "living picture". Once the students act out the scene, they freeze as characters and one by one, explain what reasoning is going through their minds at that particular moment. Robb also mentions that in order to have a meaningful book conversation, students can link the title of the book to the story. In her words she writes, "Connect the title...Explain how the title deepens your understanding of the point an author makes" (Robb, pg. 33). Typically a crash is a violent or noisy collision that results in breaking an object to pieces. In conducting an exercise where Penn is examined, I wonder if students would feel that his confidence and self-esteem were crumbling as a result of Crash and Mike's repeated bullying. An additional writing exercise would be to come up with another scenario Jerry Spinelli could use that would christen the nickname of the main character.
Typically the sign of a great novel is that it is timeless regardless of publication date. Crash was originally published in 1996, before cyber-bullying existed. Sixteen years later, I think that Crash would still resonate with my 6th grade students. They could still identify with themes like bullying, maturity, and friendship. Crash is a teachable novel and one that I would encourage my students to read.
Catherine, I really like how you discussed Jerry Spinelli's ability to capture personality. He definitely creates a character where you have mixed emotions. With Crash, sometimes I was very angry with him, and other times I felt sorry for him. This emotional response is crucial in engaging students in a discussion, because we want our kids to feel. Feel angry, feel happy for him, something.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Crash's transformation about Penn starts with the mud. When he lets Penn win the relay, it shows almost a peace with Penn. Penn's loyalty had always been there, and now was his time to shine.
Whenever I used this book as a "class read" I always made a point of discussing the "family that eats together." I frequently would pick up on the comment made by the sister and ask students to react to it. I learned a great deal about my students and their families as a result of this discussion.........many families do NOT eat together. Rather, many families pick up dinner "on the run." Thus, one can conclude that many families do not set aside time to talk to each other.
ReplyDeleteWould you agree that Crash had absolutely no direction and no one in whom he could confide until such time as his grandfather appeared on the scene? If young people have no directions, are taught no values then they act like animals............as did Crash.
In your opinion, what part did the new girl play in this story? Why did she and Penn get along so well and why was Crash so annoyed? What role does the sister play in this story? What about the father in this story? I found that my students accepted this father at first, but that they began to question the actions of both of these parents when I began to pose questions to them.
How does the mother's idea of her role begin to change and do you think she is on the "on the right track?" If so, why?
Other than the Mississippi Mud gift what do you think made Crash realize that Penn was a "good" friend?
Do you see many "Crashes" in your class(es) these days? In what ways are they similar?