Ironman

Ironman, by Chirs Crutcher, is about a young teenager named Bo Brewster an aspiring triathlete with family problems and a drive to compete.After an angry outburst against his football coach, is sent to Mr. Nak's class for Anger Management. There he meets a group of teens who are even more high strung and on the edge than he is. It is in that class that he also meets and falls in love with Shelly, a tough girl who can beat Bo up three times over. In the course of these events, Bo is training for a triathlon that could catapult him into the big time. With witty dialog and a unique first-person style, Ironman is a great sports book by a great sports author.

Chris Crutcher specializes in capturing the ups and downs, twists and turns of a teenagers life. All of his books are about young adults, many who participate in sports. Similar to Breathing Underwater, Ironman is told from the main characters point of view, which makes for a very interesting story. I really enjoyed Ironman because I thought that it offered a harsh-but-true view of adolescence. Often I think that people miss the uncertainty of teenage years, and I think that Ironman does a great job in depicting these uncertainties.

Though Ironman is not a book for the elementary student, upper middle school, and high school students will find a great story in the pages of Ironman. I also think that the book holds some good things for adults as well, if only so they can reflect on their own teenage years.