Chris Crutcher

Chris Crutcher
Chris Crutcheris an American novelist and a family therapist. He received the Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 2000 for his lifetime contribution in writing for teens...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth17 July 1946
CountryUnited States of America
attention high school span
I was pretty anti-academic, and I wasn't much of a student. I had a really short attention span and did not get a lot out of high school academically. I think college was a little the same way.
discover forced high life man span year
'Deadline' is the story of a young man forced to discover who he is, and what's important in life, during the short span of his senior year in high school.
kids throughout worked
With all the kids that I have worked with throughout the years, I couldn't find one that wasn't like me in a way.
address allowing bullies dent include predators simply ways
If we're going to make a real dent in the bullying issue, we're going to have to address the bullies themselves: find ways to help empower them that don't include allowing them to be predators or to simply be punished.
color daddy eat love toys until
She thought if she could get the color off, her daddy would love her, ... She didn't get to eat with the other kids. She couldn't play with the toys until they were broken.
left rules since
Since I didn't read a lot, it left me without rules when I was writing.
acting danger everybody happens start stuff sudden thinks
What happens is everybody thinks the danger is you're going to read this stuff and all of a sudden you'll start acting that way,
awful biggest book gets happens language life meant problem scene
It's the scene in the book that probably gets the most attention, ... The biggest problem is that she is yelling, and in the book it's in big font. This is what happens all the time: They read the language and don't read the context. It's meant to let you know how awful her life is.
bad good helps itself points
I want to look at this character from all points of view. I know I don't want to make them all good or all bad or all anything... the story itself often helps create the character.
lives thrown truth
The truth that comes out from those people's lives is skimmed off and thrown into my characters' lives,
against book death experience kids life perfect rub value
The value of a story like 'Deadline' is kids get to look at death at the perfect distance. They can put the book down. They can experience the story, rub up against it, but it's not real life.
awareness backwards counting death fear realized start stopped terms time turned
When I turned 50, I realized I was now going to start counting backwards in terms of the years I had left. Then I turned 60, and I just stopped counting. I don't have a fear of death, but I have an awareness that there's a time limit.
zero children school
Censors can make a case for zero tolerance in language. They can make the argument that since we don't allow our children to use that language in schools, we also shouldn't give them stories in which it is used.
running book firsts
My first book, 'Running Loose', was censored back in 1983 or '84. Every book I've written since has been censored somewhere.