King Of The Mild Frontier (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) [Library Binding]

Chris Crutcher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2004

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. Chris Crutcher's memoir of the tricky road to adulthood is peppered with hilarious, heartbreaking, and absolutely unforgettable events.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up-For those who want to know the real poop behind this popular author's characters (and, to some extent, his character), this is the book you've been waiting for. The cover photo tells it all: a white picket fence in the background, for all the world as straight and orderly and stereotypically 1950s proper as the author's maddeningly rational father, "Crutch," wanted things to appear. But looming in the foreground is toothy, smiling Chris, the short-fused emotional time bomb who regularly exploded into anger and tears. Protective of his alcoholic mom and at almost constant odds with his strict and demanding dad, Crutcher describes incidents and telling episodes from his formative years. His signature wit was sharpened in response to both his feelings of inadequacy and his competitive nature, honed by participation in high school and college sports. He addresses issues about his use of profanity in his writing for teens. Tough and tender reminiscences focus primarily on family, social, and school conflicts, but lessons derived from his career as a teacher, therapist, and writer are also described. Hyperbole lightens the mood as the author portrays himself as a young crybaby, academic misfit, and athletic klutz, utterly without self-aggrandizement. Abrupt transitions, some convoluted sentences, and nonlinear progression may challenge some readers, but the narrative holds undeniable appeal for the author's fans and demonstrates the power of writing to help both reader and writer heal emotional/psychic wounds.
Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Junior High School, Iowa City, IA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 8-12. Like his novels, Crutcher's autobiography is full of heartbreak, poignancy, and hilarity. Candid and casual, Crutcher shares stories from his childhood and adolescence in Cascade, Idaho. Reminiscences of some of his youthful rites of passage are laugh-out-loud funny, such as his humiliating initiation into his high-school athletic club. On a more serious note, he discusses his occasionally rocky relationships with his parents and siblings. He talks openly about his struggles with a bad temper that constantly got him into trouble, how he came to terms with questions about God, how he confronted intolerance, and how he found his own place in the world. He also shares several painful glimpses into his work as a child and family therapist trying to help people heal some very broken lives. This honest, insightful, revealing autobiography is a joy to read. Crutcher's fans will relish this intimate glimpse of the author, and the book may win some new readers for his fiction. Ed Sullivan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Library Binding: 260 pages
• Publisher: Turtleback (October 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1417675853
• ISBN-13: 978-1417675852
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Chris Crutcher grew up in Cascade, Idaho, and now lives in Spokane, Washington. He is the critically acclaimed author of six novels and a collection of short stories for teenagers, all chosen as ALA Best Books. In 2000, he was awarded the American Library Association's Margaret A. Edwards Award, honoring his lifetime contribution in writing for teens. Drawing on his experience as an athlete, teacher, family therapist, and child protection specialist, he unflinchingly writes about real and often-ignored issues that face teenagers today.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Richie's Picks: KING OF THE MILD FRONTIER, April 1, 2003

By 

Richie Partington "Richie's Picks" (Sebastopol, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: King of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-Advised Autobiography (Hardcover)

" 'Wanna do something neat?' are four words that strike terror in my heart to this day. My answer was always yes when the question came from my brother. Then he'd tell me what the neat thing was, and it would always seem not so neat until he explained how what seemed like something that could really get you in trouble was, in fact, neat. Then I'd get in trouble."

Chris Crutcher's outrageous tales of being a little brother, a young scholar, a doomed outdoorsman, and an athlete of questionable repute caused me to convulse with laughter to the point where my head started to hurt, and I began figuring that just one more story like the last one and I'd surely pee my pants.

And lying just below the surface of this wacky World According to Young Master Crutcher is a sparkling mine full of poignant vignettes and profound-yet-simple truths about a youngster coming to terms with God, with death, with family, with intolerance, and with his place in the world.

In KING OF THE MILD FRONTIER, Chris Crutcher goes on to talk from the heart about his idea of real heroes and reveals several brief (and heartbreaking) glimpses of his work as a child and family therapist. He gives us a look at his path to becoming a writer. By the time he's done, readers have a sense of how the experiences and revelations have melded together into those honest and gritty novels that we know and love him for, and which earned him the 2000 Margaret A. Edwards Award, honoring lifetime contribution in writing for teens.

Chris Crutcher is a consummate storyteller. He's also a guy who knows how to slice through the crap that authority figures often try feeding to kids. Those two hundred plus pages of KING OF THE MILD FRONTIER: AN ILL-ADVISED AUTOBIOGRAPHY passed by much too quickly for me. Teens will be certain to eat this book up in a hurry and rush out to meet all of those characters he's brought to life over the past two decades.

This is guaranteed to be on my Best of 2003 list!

Richie Partington

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars King Of The Mild Frontier, January 20, 2004

By 

Kayla (Idaho) - See all my reviews

This review is from: King of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-Advised Autobiography (Hardcover)

Wow, what a book. This book is hilarious. The author, Chris Crutcher, is writing about his life growing up in the small town of Cascade, Idaho. I'm from Idaho and let me tell you it is one small town. He talks about all of the times his older brother John would play would play tricks on him to get him in trouble. I like this book because it reminds me of all the family dinners we've had where my mom's brothers would tell similar stories like Chris'.
I like how the author shares his emotions with the readers. The way he writes, the language he uses, is verry real to the language that his target audiance speaks. All in All it was an ok book I think I would recomend it to an older audiance though because I think that they can relate to it more.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars King of the MILD Frontier, January 19, 2004

By 

Carrie (Boise, ID) - See all my reviews

This review is from: King of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-Advised Autobiography (Hardcover)

Chris Crutcher really brings Cascade, Idaho to life in his book King of the Mild Frontier. He explores what it's really like to grow up in a small logging town with a large imagination. Everyone views of his family as "perfect", but Chris takes you behind the scenes of his life and shows you what "perfect"really is.

I learned a lot of valuable advice in this book and had a ton of laughs. I highly recommend this book to teenagers because they can really relate, from growing up or being grown up and looking back. This book captures the funny side of life and the no worry attitude of a teenager, and also manages to capture the serious, complicated side of life that everyone has to deal with somehow.