Crash (1996 novel)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (January 2007) |
| Crash | |
 |
|
| Author | Jerry Spinelli |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Young adult novel |
| Publisher | HarperTrophy |
| Publication date | 1996 |
| Media type | Paperback |
| Pages | 162 |
Crash is a 1996 novel by Jerry Spinelli. It was awarded the Newbery Honor award in the same year.
[edit] Plot summary
John "Crash" Coogan was a football and track star. One Christmas John had family coming over, but when they arrived Crash got into a 4 point stance and crashed head on with his older cousin into a foot of snow. Hence, the nickname "Crash" was given. As John grew up, he met an odd, scrawny boy named Penn Webb, who was a vegetarian and a Quaker, and lived in a garage-sized house which happened to once be a garage! Ever since Penn and his family moved in down the block, when they were in 1st grade, Crash tormented Penn to no end just because he was different from him and he didn't like the looks of him. Even though Penn had always tried to be his friend, he just thought Penn was a "human joke". Along with Mike Deluca, a friend he met upon entering fourth grade, both Crash and Mike picked on Penn to no end.
When they enter seventh grade, Penn tried out for cheerleading while Crash joined the football team. Crash maintained his aversion to Penn, even as the girl he was attracted to, Jane Forbes, became Penn’s close friend. Sadly, Crash was ditched for being a jerk by Jane. Crash also found that his sister, Abby, had been influenced by Penn’s beliefs. She showed it by giving up eating anything with a face, letting weeds thrive in the family backyard, and making a tiny house for a mouse that suddenly appeared. Abby wanted to have a tree fort built for her so she could see what animals were living in her habitat. Soon, Crash and Abby’s grandfather, Scooter, had a stroke while trying to build Abby's tree fort, causing the family great grief. As time went on, Crash’s animosity toward Penn seemed to simmer down, realizing that all Penn ever wanted to do was be his friend. However, as Crash seemed to lighten up towards Penn, Mike’s pranks started to go too far, such as drenching him with water until he nearly caught pneumonia and kidnapping his turtle. As the book ends, Crash says what changed since the beginning of the book, most notably Penn becoming his best friend, and Jane Forbes inviting him to her Fourth of July party.
