The Sledding Hill by Chris Crutcher

By now you all know that I am new here. And new to being a YA librarian. So I guess you won't mind finding out that prior to taking this job I had never read a book by Chris Crutcher and I didn't know a thing about him. I didn't know, for instance, that he has the same birthday as me (July 17th) or that he is known for writing controversial books. Books that even wind up on the banned books list.

I decided to read The Sledding Hill because I liked the cover and because our library has lots of books by Chris Crutcher and it looked like a book that maybe a boy would want to read. I did not read any reviews before I started in on page one.

In fact, I read the entire book before I read a review. I was astounded to learn that people considered this book potentially controversial. I just thought it was a great story full of interesting ideas and pretty good writing to boot. Goes to show you what I know.

So I guess if you want to read a controversial book, this would be a great choice. And maybe that's a more attractive reason for a young person to read it than an adult like me telling you why I think it would be good for you.

I could post an excerpt or a review, but I'd really rather have you Read It For Yourself, the way I did, and then let me know what you think.