Whale Talk

One of my all-time favorite books for young adults. Meet T.J. Jones. He's black and white and Japanese, and he goes to a high school where the jocks are king. T.J. wants nothing to do with sports at his school, until his math teacher asks him to organize a school-sponsored swim team. He agrees as long as every person on the team gets the all-powerful LETTER JACKET. He finds the team members one by one. When they go for their first swim practice, the cast of characters is revealed. One swimmer undresses to his swim trunks and also unbuckles his leg. Not the usual crew. The integrity of this book is awesome. The conversations between the swim team members are outstanding. The heart is enormous, and the sub-plots are profound. NOT TO BE MISSED.