Summary

The Sledding Hill by Chris Crutcher was okay. It was hard to into at first, but then in the middle, towards the end, it got more intense and interesting.

This story is about a kid named Eddie Proffit. This year alone, his dad dies when he forgets to take the air out of the tire before the car is set on the ground, and the tire explodes in his face and he dies. Eddie is devastated because now he only has his mother to talk to which he really doesn't want to because she doesn't understand him like his father did. He i also frustrated with his mother because she keeps letting Reverend Tarter into the house. Reverend always comes up to his room and tries to convince him to get baptized at the church. Also, his friend Billy Bartholomew died of a freak accident like Eddie's father. Billy was mad so he kicked a couple of sheets of sheetrock that were lying loosely against the wall. He turns away and just as he did that, a couple of sheetrock falls and clips the back of his head, which breaks his spine. Billy just dies right then and there. Eddie is the first to find these two of his favorite people in the world dead. I mean, what would you do when you find two of your most loved people in the world dead? Would you run and tell someone or let someone else find them and just keep it to yourself? Billy and Eddie were really close, they were inseparable. They always got into trouble together. So when Billy died, Eddie stopped talking for a while, because it reminded him of all the great times they had together when he did talk. In school, Eddie takes English and they read this book called Warren Peece. The school board hears about this and wants the book banned because of its bad language and bad reference about homosexual people. Eddie really likes this book because he found friends in the characters, and he doesn't want to lose those like he lost his father and best friend, so he decides to fight against the banning of the book. Eddie joins this group called 'Youth for Christ' who are for the banning of the book. Eddie joins this group so he can speak to the church and tell the people not to ban the book. He invites Chris Crutcher himself to be at the school board meeting to speak about the greatness of the book.

The characters in the book are two normal teenage boys, they everything together, they run together, the go to each others houses, they eat lunch together, etc... Eddie grows up a lot in this book, he goes from being all quiet and not talking and being shy to telling people that he might be Jesus. He is really proud of himself for standing up for everyone and making sure the book isn't banned. The other person that is really proud of him is Billy Bartholomew who was with him every step of the way.