Customer Reviews

Angry Management

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ANGRY MANAGEMENT contains new stories with characters from previous Chris Crutcher books. Crutcher explains in his foreword that he has been "...asked over and over again whether or not there will be a sequel to STAYING FAT FOR SARAH BYRNES or WHALE TALK..." He goes on to explain that he doesn't "...generally get the notion to write a sequel to a novel that I've already taken two years to write. But during those two years I always fall in love with my characters, and I loved revisiting some of them in this other, shorter form." Crutcher presents a tribute to his characters and his fans in this new book.

Sarah Byrnes was physically abused by her father at a young age when he pressed her face against a burning stove. Then Sarah's mother abandoned her, leaving behind a girl emotionally and physically scarred. She sought after her mother once for an explanation, but left uncomforted and unfulfilled. Now with the help of Angus Bethune, an overweight and low self-esteem teenager with unconventional parents, Sarah once again seeks to confront her mother and find some closure. Along the way, they establish a stronger bond and perhaps fill an empty spot in each other's lives. The ending to their story isn't necessarily perfect, but that doesn't mean it's not happy.

Montana West likes to push the envelope in everything she does. Whether it's fighting with her adoptive parents or writing articles on hot-button issues for the school newspaper, Montana is not afraid to speak her mind. When censorship from the school's administration rears its ugly head, she takes a break to write an article about the school's football team, the one topic in which she could care less. However, she doesn't expect to fall for bad-boy Trey Chase and his irresistible charm. Together they decide to fight back against the censorship of Montana's legalized marijuana article and run into the last person they thought would stand in their way: the chairman of the school board --- and Montana's adoptive father. Now Montana must decide where her loyalties lie and what she really believes.

Marcus James has every reason to be angry. He not only happens to be one of the few black students in a prejudiced inland Northwest high school, he is also the only gay black student in a prejudiced inland Northwest high school. Marcus takes everything in stride, though, and is counting down the days until he can escape to college and a brighter future. One day he shows up to class with a pink noose hanging around his neck, and a hate crime is investigated by the administration in a sloppy, administrative way. At a school assembly where Marcus is singled out, an unlikely ally emerges in Matt Miller, state champion wrestler, who stands up against the moronic handling of the situation. Matt refuses to let the hate crime fall by the wayside, and Marcus is simply trying to survive another day. The ultimate outcome is not what either person expects.

While die-hard Crutcher fans may be uneasy about the new settings and storylines for some of his infamous characters, they should be comforted by the fact that he has taken great care to keep everything true to form and style from his original creations. While some of his characters and situations may be shocking, Crutcher doesn't write these stories for their shock value. Instead, he remains true to sitting back and telling the story and watching what happens next. Crutcher's protagonists have always seemed very real to me, and although their lives may be a mess sometimes, they always seem to find hope in every situation.

--- Reviewed by Benjamin Boche

Although I was already a fan of Chris Crutcher's work, this book shot to the top of my TBR pile when it was challenged by a parent in South Carolina. Because of Crutcher's willingness to take on a host of societal issues, his books are often challenged--and teens love them. I'm not generally a huge fan of short stories, but I enjoyed this collection of three novellas and the chance to revisit characters from several of Crutcher's previous novels. Highly recommended.

The characters in the three stories are loosely bound together by Mr. Nak's Angry Management group.

"Kyle Maynard and the Craggy Face of the Moon" features Sarah Byrnes and Angus Bethune. Sarah bears her burn-scarred face like a shield to protect herself from becoming too involved with anyone and Angus uses his girth and his sense of humor in a similar way. The teens become closer as they embark on a road trip to find Sarah's mother, who abandoned her to her abusive father.

In "Montana Wild," Montana West writes the kind of stories for her school newspaper that never get published, thanks to conservative administrators backed up by the right-wing head of the school board who happens to be her adoptive father. When her latest story, about medical marijuana, gets shot down, she is asked to write a human interest piece on a football player. Trey Chase is not a stereotypical "dumb jock" and Montana is drawn to him right away. His grandmother, Mari, is dying of cancer and uses marijuana to ease her pain and nausea. Mari suggests that Montana not give up on her medical marijuana article. Even knowing that the school paper won't publish it, Montana decides to push the issue and get it before the school board. Mari says, "You don't have to win to win. Just keep putting it in front of them. The truth rises." The showdown between Montana and Maxwell West is inevitable.

The third story, "Meet Me at the Gates, Marcus James" was my favorite. Marcus is the only African American student at his high school, which is run by football-obsessed bigots. Not only is Marcus whip-smart and outspoken, but he is also gay. When he strolls into Mr. Simet's U.S. Government class wearing the pink noose that had been hanging on his locker, no one misses its significance. Mr. Simet is supportive, but cautions Marcus about the statement he's making by wearing the noose. When the school administrators call an assembly to "address" the bigotry, Matt Miller, a devout Christian, calls them out for appearing to address the issue, while making it impossible to resolve. I love this character, who embodies the best Christian behavior, rather than the holier-than-thou brand of Christianity that permeates American culture. He stands up and tells the truth, which unleashes unforeseen consequences and connects him with Marcus forever. Marcus' father is another interesting character because, even though he understands what it's like to be hated for something he can't control (his race), his initial reaction to learning that Marcus is gay is anger. He eventually accepts his son and has this to say, "You know, teacher man, bein' homosexual isn't somethin' my boy chose. He just was. Somebody's readin' the good book all wrong. You ask me, God creates it, God loves it. Simple as that." Amen.

The stories in `Angry Management' follow characters Chris Crutcher has already used in his novels, which I think is a great premise on its own, because we all want to know more about our favorite characters after the novel is over, and this gives us a nice taste of what they're up to in a different setting. Every story is heartfelt and genuinely emotional. Crutcher does a good job of keeping his characters' voices true to the voices of the teens they're representing and that not only makes this a good read but an excellent young adult novel, or compilation in this case. Each of the stories focuses on a different challenge of adolescence, not all of which can be related to directly by every `young adult' who picks up this book to read, but he gives a wide enough range that I think almost anyone could pick up this book and relate to someone on a personal level.

I have to admit that, personally, this isn't a book I'd consider one of my favorite young adult reads, but from the `teacher' perspective of whether or not this would be a book to recommend to students/use in the classroom it's definitely something I'd pass along. While there is always the overpowering issue of censorship which may be an issue regarding this book being taught in the classroom, it's one I would like to include if this were a perfect world. It provides an insight into different situations and families students may not otherwise see, and it is genuine enough that students who are living in these worlds themselves aren't going to feel a falseness or pandering that we sometimes see in young adult lit. Each short story could very easily be taught on its own, and it gives a great character preview for Crutcher's longer novels featuring the same characters, (and I love being able to recommend a book that leads my students to want to read more!).

Gold Star Award Winner!

Google Chris Crutcher, and chances are one of the first topics to pop up will be censorship. That alone is cause for this reviewer to pick up his books.

A therapist and child advocate, Crutcher is one of the finest authors I've read for teens. He not only uses real experiences with real adolescents to form his characters, he hits young adult reality fiction right on. Crutcher is honest, straightforward, and not afraid to tackle the hard subjects coming-of-age lessons forge. And boy, do kids respond.

ANGRY MANAGEMENT is Crutcher's latest novel. Built out of three novellas involving some familiar characters from past books, adolescents and grown ups alike who can't appreciate the honesty and raw emotion brought forth from these characters do so out of fear of today's reality.

The novellas are connected by Mr. Nak's (IRONMAN, 1995, HarperCollins) Angry Management group, a place where teens who don't follow the norm meet to tell their stories. The stories they've lived from the cards they've been dealt.

Anger is most definitely a theme in these pages, but so are love and prejudice, freedom of religion and abuse. Hope and survival. Crutcher has a way of pulling at the deep, raw emotion we all possess, especially for kids, and bringing it to the surface. No wonder so many find his work threatening.

Reviewed by: Angie Fisher

Chris Crutcher has done it again. He always leaves me wanting more of his characters and with this book he gives us more. just like all Crutcher books: Loved it loved it loved it!

I pre-ordered ANGRY MANAGEMENT months ago and have counted down the days till its release. Chris Crutcher, as always, does not disappoint. From the first story that utilizes past characters Sarah Byrnes and Angus Bethune, I was pulled into their lives intensely. It was genius to bring back the character of Mr. Nak to guide the reader through the lives of past beloved characters and a new one or two. I loved this book even more than DEADLINE, Crutcher's last book-- and that's saying a lot.
This is another one I will be buying for my friends who care about kids, as well as those who just love a great story (stories, actually).

This book has three very engaging stories. But what struck me is how well-crafted the characters and plot both were. I'm generally someone who reads in small doses but I would often read this in long stretches without putting it down.

When I was looking through the Chris Crutcher books that my library has, I was immediately hooked by seeing the name "Sarah Byrnes." Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes was a great read for me and if she appeared again, then I wanted to read this. It turns out that this is a collection of short stories, bringing together several characters from earlier books to further explore.

I liked the premise because of the two Crutcher books I've read, the main characters have experienced a lot of anger, both at their own situation in life and at the injustices perpetrated in the world. This book is a further examination of those themes that continue to roil American society, largely race, sexual orientation, inadequacies in the foster care system, and just downright cruelty. At times, I felt like I was being preached at although since I largely agree with Crutcher, I didn't mind. This was most present in the third story "Meet Me at the Gates, Marcus James." I felt that the other two stories integrated those themes better.

Besides that, this is a collection of three short stories which means that you just don't get enough time to build a connection to the character. Now I remembered Sarah Byrnes but the other characters weren't familiar with me. I liked them (Crutcher creates vivid personalities that reach out and grab you) but I wanted more like I receive in a novel.

Additionally the framing device is that these six characters are in group counseling for various reasons and each section is preceded by a brief description of the character as observed by the head counselor. I enjoyed the bit of him we saw but again, I wanted more!

Overall: Another enjoyable read from Crutcher but I think I prefer a full-length novel to short stories.

Chris Crutcher does a marvelous job of taking characters we have met before and telling us "the rest of their story"! Again, fascinating story lines, captivating characters, and even though they are involved in high stakes drama, he is able to put some very good laughs in along the way. If you have read ATHLETIC SHORTS or the story of SARAH BYRNE, you will definitely want to pick this book up. Angus and Sarah together? Yep! But there are more just as interesting characters that you care deeply for as you read their stories of how they ended up in Anger Management group.

I want to be really progressive and say I loved this book, but I just can't do it. While Chris Crutcher is one of my literary heroes, his writing in this book feels like he's trying too hard to connect with modern kids rather than telling their story. It also didn't help that I was constantly distracting by typos and narrative errors.

However (there always seems to be a "however"), I was sucked into this book. Once I got started, I couldn't put it down. Yes, it annoyed me that all of the teens were basically the same--smarter than the adults around them, socially correct in their political incorrectness, deeply scared by childhood trauma--but I was happy to hear their stories. I especially liked "Kyle Maynard and the Craggy Face of the Moon" as I was able to hear the end of Sarah Byrnes' story after having connected with her when I first read Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes back in high school.

There are usually so many great elements to Crutcher's books that even his matter-of-fact handling of sex, edgy narration of current social issues and powerful insight into the teenage voice couldn't make up for what this book lacked: a cohesive plot.