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cindyjac's review against another edition
4.0
I can't believe I've never read this; it's been on my bookshelf at school for years. I should have known it would be great since Jerry Spinelli wrote it. It has a similar feel to it as Maniac Magee and Stargirl with a message that it's okay to be different. Crash Coogan starts as a somewhat unlikeable narrator, but we watch him evolve and find that even a jock bully can change given the right circumstances. A book I will recommend to my students!
onceuponacarm's review against another edition
3.0
When I began reading this book, I hated it. I couldn't relate to Crash Coogan at all, with his insensitivity and arrogance. But I had to give Jerry Spinelli a chance, as his stories tend to be pretty amazing. This was not my favorite of his books, but it ended up being pretty good. I enjoyed witnessing the transformation Crash went through and the honest, real circumstances that led to his personal growth. Though the cover of the book suggests it'll be a comedy, like many of Spinelli's books the humor is the natural, every-day humor of life.
kmcneil's review against another edition
4.0
From Horn Book Guide 9/1/1996
Fiction: I Crash is a star football player. He torments Penn, a classmate who is everything Crash is not -- friendly, small, and a pacifist. When his beloved grandfather comes to live with his family and suffers a debilitating stroke, Crash comes to see value in many of the things he has scorned. Although not entirely convincing, Spinelli's fast-paced, lively novel is great fun to read. Horn Rating: Superior, well above average. Reviewed by: mvk
Fiction: I Crash is a star football player. He torments Penn, a classmate who is everything Crash is not -- friendly, small, and a pacifist. When his beloved grandfather comes to live with his family and suffers a debilitating stroke, Crash comes to see value in many of the things he has scorned. Although not entirely convincing, Spinelli's fast-paced, lively novel is great fun to read. Horn Rating: Superior, well above average. Reviewed by: mvk
booksong's review against another edition
4.0
They call him Crash because that's what he does, crashes through life with no regard for everything around him.
John "Crash" Coogan is entering 7th grade in his middle school career. And it's shaping up to be an interesting one indeed. Crash is ready to hang with his best friend Michael, dominate the football team, and get to know Jane Forbes, his suddenly drop-dead beautiful classmate, a little better.
And he wants to continue the longstanding tradition of harassing Penn Webb.
Penn Webb, scrawny, nonviolent, vegetarian, unfailingly friendly, and raised by Quakers. The polar opposite of arrogant jock Crash. Since childhood Crash has scorned Penn's attempts at friendship, instead making him a target for bullying. Everything has run perfectly fine...until that 7th grade year.
The year that Crash's beloved uncle ends up in the hospital. The year that Crash's little sister goes on an impassioned environmental crusade. And the year when everything brash, cocky Crash expects to happen...doesn't.
A hilarious, touching, painful story of one fairly unsympathetic teenage hero who is changed by the most unlikely people...and comes out on the other side as someone no one could have recognized.
John "Crash" Coogan is entering 7th grade in his middle school career. And it's shaping up to be an interesting one indeed. Crash is ready to hang with his best friend Michael, dominate the football team, and get to know Jane Forbes, his suddenly drop-dead beautiful classmate, a little better.
And he wants to continue the longstanding tradition of harassing Penn Webb.
Penn Webb, scrawny, nonviolent, vegetarian, unfailingly friendly, and raised by Quakers. The polar opposite of arrogant jock Crash. Since childhood Crash has scorned Penn's attempts at friendship, instead making him a target for bullying. Everything has run perfectly fine...until that 7th grade year.
The year that Crash's beloved uncle ends up in the hospital. The year that Crash's little sister goes on an impassioned environmental crusade. And the year when everything brash, cocky Crash expects to happen...doesn't.
A hilarious, touching, painful story of one fairly unsympathetic teenage hero who is changed by the most unlikely people...and comes out on the other side as someone no one could have recognized.
machadofam8's review against another edition
4.0
I read this to help my child with a school assignment, and really enjoyed it. Wonderful message!
kkdemarco's review against another edition
4.0
Great middle grade read! I liked seeing the perspective of the "bully" and his change/development over the course of the novel. I thought Crash was a very relatable character and a true portrayal of the struggles of middle school kids. Can't wait to see how this goes as a read aloud!
pattydsf's review against another edition
3.0
This was a fun, fast read. Crash Coogan thinks he knows how to be a boy. Crash into things, play football and do practical jokes against those people you don't like. Crash has the world figured out and he knows he is a winner.
Of course, life never runs so smoothly and Crash is in for many big surprises. Spinelli knows his audience and makes the whole story humorous and realistic. It is no wonder my sister and her family enjoyed this book so much.
Of course, life never runs so smoothly and Crash is in for many big surprises. Spinelli knows his audience and makes the whole story humorous and realistic. It is no wonder my sister and her family enjoyed this book so much.
literaryk's review against another edition
5.0
It's been a while since I've read a Jerry Spinelli book, but I quickly remembered he was my first favorite author as a kid. Crash was an awesome middle grade novel that focuses on the perspective of a full-of-himself bully going through middle school. Middle school brings the usual sports and showboating of new clothes, but also new students like Penn and Jane. It also brings changes to Crash's family. During that time, Crash begins to realize there's a world outside of himself and what that means for his personality and actions.
I felt this book accurately portrays the type of kid Crash appears to be, and seeing him slowly change felt authentic. There's no lengthy monolog where Crash reflects on his past and sees the wrong in it (because what 7th grader have you seen do that unprompted by adults?), and we don't see Crash going back to fix his wrongs. Instead, we see Crash suddenly react differently to the schemes of his peers as well as how he treats others.
He's not perfect at the end of the book, but nobody is. You do see a better version of Crash, though, and it makes all the difference.
I felt this book accurately portrays the type of kid Crash appears to be, and seeing him slowly change felt authentic. There's no lengthy monolog where Crash reflects on his past and sees the wrong in it (because what 7th grader have you seen do that unprompted by adults?), and we don't see Crash going back to fix his wrongs. Instead, we see Crash suddenly react differently to the schemes of his peers as well as how he treats others.
He's not perfect at the end of the book, but nobody is. You do see a better version of Crash, though, and it makes all the difference.
kristi_starr35's review against another edition
4.0
In many ways, hard to believe CRASH was written in 1996. It's only dated in the mention of tapes and VCRs. The rest - the relationships, the sports, the social issues - don't change. It's another reminder of how much we all take for granted until something happens that shakes us up. Crash Coogan is a brash bruiser of a 7th grader who despises his Quaker neighbor, Penn. But when Scooter, Crash's grandfather, ends up in the hospital in a fight for his life, things change for Scooter.