 | | Crutcher with student journalist Michael Gallegos. |
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Student Journalist Michael Gallegos
La Sierra High School, Fullerton, CA.
May 2006
Editor’s Note: This story was written by Michael Gallegos, a student in the ABC (Academic Placement, Behavior Modification, and Community Service) class taught by Brie Johnson. Chris Crutcher’s recent visit to La Sierra lasted two days. He spoke to students in Opportunity, TAPP, and ABC. He also addressed classes at La Vista. Those attending his presentations had read at least one of his books. Crutcher autographed books for students, too.
On May 17, 2006 students from La Sierra’s ABC class, were treated to an exclusive talk with acclaimed author of teen fiction, Chris Crutcher. Crutcher has been described as a “most inspirational contemporary writer” by young adult readers, who comprise a majority of his audience.
He has written such books as Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, Whale Talk, and his oldest work, Running Loose. Crutcher creates his fictional characters from composites of the people he has worked with or met. In a few cases, actual people have given Crutcher permission to tell their story, which he has also done.
Crutcher’s books bring hope and motivation to many young people who read them. He claims that his books do this because they deal with real subject matter that young people can relate to. Not only are his books easy to relate to, but from his recent La Sierra visit, many students found the various aspects of his characters’ lives and hardships as well as his own life’s anecdotes, similar to their own, thus lending them a credibility with his target teen audience.
For example, when Crutcher was a young boy, he hated doing homework, and only had aspirations of getting “C’s” in all his classes. He also felt much pressure in school due to having an older brother who was the Valedictorian and a father who was the Chairman of the School Board. By hearing about Crutcher’s childhood, it gave many students in the ABC class hope that they too can reach their goals in life.
In college, Crutcher was a psychology major and attended Eastern Washington State College. Eventually, he got a job at a continuation school as a child abuse and neglect therapist. This gave him an understanding of teenagers and inspired many of his books.
Crutcher shared a number of his experiences at the continuation school, which caught the attention of all of the ABC students. He recounted a variety of stories, some of which were tragic and some that were comical. This combination, he later told us, is the basis for all of his stories.
Crutcher’s writing style is called realistic fiction, but in his books he likes to even out the sad events with some comedy. This makes his books more enjoyable and not so depressing.
Crutcher says that, with the exception of Running Loose, all his books have been banned for one reason or another. He believes this is because people are afraid of his material.
“They are afraid because my books deal with touchy, but real events that adults think younger people shouldn’t read about. Parents are scared of the material, but in reality, teenagers deal with its subject matter daily,” Crutcher said.
One of his books, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, has been highly acclaimed for its sensitive subject matter and is being considered for a movie. Crutcher is currently working with the screenwriter who is writing the script for the film version.
Crutcher is very enthusiastic about the way that his story is being converted into movie dialogue, and is hoping that the film will increase his exposure to the public and spread word of his books.
All of us at La Sierra plan to see the movie and would like to thank Chris Crutcher for coming to our school. Hopefully, he’ll return! | 
