King of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-Advised Autobiography

Chris Crutcher

Sep 2009 · Sold by Harper Collins

About this ebook

ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults * New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age

A riveting, scorching—and hilarious—autobiography by the award-winning author of Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes and Deadline.

From trying to impress a member of the girls’ softball team (with disastrous dental results) to enduring the humiliation of his high school athletic club initiation (olives and oysters play unforgettable roles), Chris Crutcher’s memoir of the tricky road to adulthood is candid, disarming, laugh-out-loud funny, relevant, and never less than riveting.

He vividly describes a temper that was always waiting to trip him up even as it sustained him through some of the most memorable mishaps any child has survived. And how did this guy (he lifted his brother’s homework through the entire tenth grade) ever become a writer, not to mention the author of fourteen critically acclaimed books for young people?

The frontier may be mild, but the book is not. Fans of Tara Westover’s Educated, Jack Gantos’s Hole in My Life, and Walter Dean Myers’s Bad Boy will laugh, will cry, and will remember.

“Funny, bittersweet and brutally honest. Readers will clasp this hard-to-put-down book to their hearts even as they laugh sympathetically.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Ratings and reviews

I read this for the 2007 Dynamic Duo contest. Very funny...like reading "The Wonder Years" with an edge. A memoir - more for grown ups perhaps. He has some good philosophies - like there are lots of heroes in unlikely and uncomplicated places.

This is one of my all time favorite books! He actually came to my college classroom to speak and he is a wonderful author and speaker. I really liked how you can picture the events taking place as you are reading this story. Growing up with brothers I can relate to the "troubles" he encounters! Wonderful read for the young adult that is reluctant to read. I will be purchasing this book as well as many others written by Chris!

About the author

Chris Crutcher has written nine critically acclaimed novels, an autobiography, and two collections of short stories. Drawing on his experience as a family therapist and child protection specialist, Crutcher writes honestly about real issues facing teenagers today: making it through school, competing in sports, handling rejection and failure, and dealing with parents. He has won three lifetime achievement awards for the body of his work: the Margaret A. Edwards Award, the ALAN Award, and the NCTE National Intellectual Freedom Award. Chris Crutcher lives in Spokane, Washington.