The Sledding Hill

Chris Crutcher

Sep 2009 · Sold by Harper Collins

About this ebook

Billy Bartholomew has an audacious soul, and he knows it. Why? Because it's all he has left. He's dead.

Eddie Proffit has an equally audacious soul, but he doesn't know it. He's still alive.

These days, Billy and Eddie meet on the sledding hill, where they used to spend countless hours -- until Billy kicked a stack of Sheetrock over on himself, breaking his neck and effectively hitting tilt on his Earthgame. The two were inseparable friends. They still are. And Billy is not about to let a little thing like death stop him from hanging in there with Eddie in his epic struggle to get his life back on track.

Ratings and reviews

This was the first Chris Crutcher book I read and I liked it a lot until I got to the "meta" part of it in which Crutcher becomes something of a character. I thought it was kind of cheesy to pull that and it felt too much like a trick. I can deal with the Alfred Hitchcock thing of walking into your book or even better what Laurie Halse Anderson did by putting her _Speak_ character in _Catalyst_ for just a moment, but this, well, this felt wrong. Other than that it was a cool idea and even with that, kids are going to like this book. No doubt. And if nothing else, it will, because of the self-referencing, lead to all of us reading at least one other book by him.

I credit this book in the earlier stages of my awakening. I first read this book when I was twelve and it gave me a whole new perspective while at first I just chose it as a reading assignment. Very good book to encourage new thoughts in young and old readers.

I have a hard copy of this book and it is by far one of the best books I've read...

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.