<p>Bo Brewster has been at war with his father for as long as he can remember. Following angry outbursts at his football coach and English teacher that have cost him his spot on the football team and moved him dangerously close to expulsion from school, he turns to the only adult he believes will listen: Larry King.</p><p>In his letters to Larry, Bo describes his quest for excellence on his own terms. No more coaches for me, he tells the talk show icon, no more dads. I'm going to be a triathlete, an Ironman.</p><p>Relegated to Mr. Nak's before-school Anger Management group (which he initially believes to be populated with future serial killers and freeway snipers) , Bo meets a hard-edged, down-on-their-luck pack of survivors with stainless steel shields against the world that Bo comes to see are not so different from his own. It is here he meets and falls in love with Shelly, a future American Gladiator, whose passion for physical challenge more than matches his.</p><p>Ironman is a funny, sometimes heartbreaking story about growing up in the heart of struggle. It is about standing up, getting knocked down, and standing up again. It is about being heard--and learning to listen.</p>
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Great book especially for reluctant, teenaged male readers!
In studying to become a high school English teacher, I'm workshopping with book with a group of boys. The book is great with witty language, realistic and creative viewpoints of a student athlete who's run into some problems in having to deal with a domineering teacher and a father who backhandedly believes he's doing best by his son by not supporting him to achieve his one goal--to train and compete in Yukon Jack's Ironman competition. In butting heads with these characters, Bo finds himself in an Anger Management class where, despite first not feeling like he belonged amongst the "thieves and murders", he learns that they all have things they need to work on and find strength in each other (with no tough-guy-ness sacrificed ;) ). I especially like that Chris Crutcher does not write down to the adolescent literature genre but, rather is quite real, matter-of-fact and constantly interesting to even some of the most reluctant readers. Read more
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