The Sledding Hill – Chris Crutcher

Eddie Profitt isn’t much regarded by his teachers or classmates, but his father and his best friend Billy (the smartest kid in school) see the intelligence lying behind the questions Eddie asks, questions that nobody else thinks of. When, in short succession, both his father and his best friend die, traumatised by finding both bodies, Eddie shuts down – he eats and sleep and attends class, but he stops talking. Billy, dead but present, tries to communicate with him, and with detached dispassion narrates as Eddie peacefully subverts the system, countering the attempts at censorship lead by local minister (and would be new father) Sanford Tarter.
All Crutcher’s excellent novels explore similar themes of power, abuse, hypocrisy, bigotry, honesty, honour and truth, somehow managing to avoid repetition or staleness. In The Sledding Hill he uses an imaginary novel, Warren Peece (which I'd like to read, if only it were real), written by controversial YA novelist Chris Crutcher, to explore grief, and to dissect censorship, and while it’s strongly slanted to opposing repression he portrays the characters who want to prevent impressionable youths from reading damaging works as having good intentions (though far from being pure).
Crutcher is strongly present through the novel – his background, website, other texts, opinions and strategies to counter censorship (including attendance at schools every year) is explicitly discussed, and he makes an appearance as a character.
To avoid The Sledding Hill itself being opposed by censorship groups, Crutcher has ensured that there's nothing (except for discussion of censorship and it’s opposition) that can lead to it being banned – no offensive language, underage sex, homosexuality, drug use or abuse. There are also some helpful extras, including an interview with the author about the book, contacts for those interested in learning more about censorship, and Crutcher’s response to an attack on another of his novels (where he articulates the position that while people focus on issues in the book, the truly offensive fact is that the abuses he writes about really exist).
An interesting and worthwhile read in itself, in addition to the strong message it sends, I think this book should be required reading for all teens, their parents, and those who promote censorship. - Alex