VVMBookBlog

The Sledding Hill by Chris Crutcher

This book opens with tragedy. Eddie Proffit suffers the loss of both his best friend and his father, and even worse is that Eddie is the one who first found both bodies. Eddie’s mother turns to Reverend Tartar who is not only the church leader but also a teacher at Eddie’s school. Because of the loss, and quite frankly Rev. Tartar, Eddie stops talking. At least most people think he is not talking. He is talking to his Billy (his deceased friend) and Billy’s dad. Eddie talks to Billy on the sledding hill.

Reverend Tartar is trying to get Billy talking. This isn’t easy because Billy questions Tartar as his father had when he was around. When Billy does start talking in Tartar’s church, Tartar is not pleased. Billy starts talking in response to a banned book at school. The book was banned for several reasons, and Tartar is trying to make sure it is removed from school, even though it’s the first book several students have actually read cover to cover. This controversy shows the personalities and beliefs of several characters in a riveting ending.

What would you do if a book was banned at VVMS? How would you stand up for your beliefs? Do students have the right to read books of interest even though they contain controversial topics? Who has the right to decide what should be removed from a shelf? Your parents have the right to decide what you read. Do they have the right to decide what all students read? Read this book, think about these questions, and if you would, share your thoughts with us.

From Ms. Childs: Both Ms. Moeller and I wonder about the title of this book–The Sledding Hill. Usually titles have some bit of meaning from some part of the book. The sledding hill happens to be where the deceased Billy makes contact with Eddie, but maybe I’ll have to read it again to get the deeper meaning.

After I read this I actually emailed the author, Chris Crutcher, to ask him some questions about book censorship and including controversial books in a middle school book collection. One theme of the book is that books should be available to students on topics that are both interesting to them and that students might need for things going on in their lives. And sometimes the things going on in students’ lives are difficult and hard to understand. Chris Crutcher said that students should be told that a book is “frank” in its treatment of a controversial topic, but that things happening or words used in a particular book might not okay for school or everyday life. It’s a topic that comes up for us often so I’m sure we’ll be writing about it again.

Read The Sledding Hill and tell us what you think.