ANGRY MANAGEMENT
Chris Crutcher
HarperTeen
Fiction
ISBN: 9780060502478
256 pages

ANGRY MANAGEMENT contains new stories with characters from previous Chris Crutcher books. Crutcher explains in his foreword that he has been “…asked over and over again whether or not there will be a sequel to STAYING FAT FOR SARAH BYRNES or WHALE TALK…” He goes on to explain that he doesn’t “…generally get the notion to write a sequel to a novel that I’ve already taken two years to write. But during those two years I always fall in love with my characters, and I loved revisiting some of them in this other, shorter form.” Crutcher presents a tribute to his characters and his fans in this new book.

Sarah Byrnes was physically abused by her father at a young age when he pressed her face against a burning stove. Then Sarah’s mother abandoned her, leaving behind a girl emotionally and physically scarred. She sought after her mother once for an explanation, but left uncomforted and unfulfilled. Now with the help of Angus Bethune, an overweight and low self-esteem teenager with unconventional parents, Sarah once again seeks to confront her mother and find some closure. Along the way, they establish a stronger bond and perhaps fill an empty spot in each other’s lives. The ending to their story isn’t necessarily perfect, but that doesn’t mean it’s not happy.

Montana West likes to push the envelope in everything she does. Whether it’s fighting with her adoptive parents or writing articles on hot-button issues for the school newspaper, Montana is not afraid to speak her mind. When censorship from the school’s administration rears its ugly head, she takes a break to write an article about the school’s football team, the one topic in which she could care less. However, she doesn’t expect to fall for bad-boy Trey Chase and his irresistible charm. Together they decide to fight back against the censorship of Montana’s legalized marijuana article and run into the last person they thought would stand in their way: the chairman of the school board --- and Montana’s adoptive father. Now Montana must decide where her loyalties lie and what she really believes.

Marcus James has every reason to be angry. He not only happens to be one of the few black students in a prejudiced inland Northwest high school, he is also the only gay black student in a prejudiced inland Northwest high school. Marcus takes everything in stride, though, and is counting down the days until he can escape to college and a brighter future. One day he shows up to class with a pink noose hanging around his neck, and a hate crime is investigated by the administration in a sloppy, administrative way. At a school assembly where Marcus is singled out, an unlikely ally emerges in Matt Miller, state champion wrestler, who stands up against the moronic handling of the situation. Matt refuses to let the hate crime fall by the wayside, and Marcus is simply trying to survive another day. The ultimate outcome is not what either person expects.

While die-hard Crutcher fans may be uneasy about the new settings and storylines for some of his infamous characters, they should be comforted by the fact that he has taken great care to keep everything true to form and style from his original creations. While some of his characters and situations may be shocking, Crutcher doesn’t write these stories for their shock value. Instead, he remains true to sitting back and telling the story and watching what happens next. Crutcher’s protagonists have always seemed very real to me, and although their lives may be a mess sometimes, they always seem to find hope in every situation.

   --- Reviewed by Benjamin Boche (bennyboche@hotmail.com)

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