(background info)

Plot Summary:

Ironman, by Chris Crutcher, is a novel about a teenage boy named Beauregard Brewster who has a huge dream but has some problems to solve along the way. He has one name that almost everyone calls him and that is Bo. Bo dreams of wining a triathlon and becoming an Ironman but some things get in his way. He has an extremely bad anger management probably. He ends up yelling at everyone that he sees his dad in. In the beginning of the book, Bo yells at Mr. Redmond, one of his teachers, because he got irritated in him. He ends up saying something he shouldn't have and gets sent out of school. Bo has a choice of either being home schooled or anger management classes. After listening and talking over what he should do, he chose to go to the anger management class because the home schooling teacher is the most boring teacher in the world. His first day at anger management he got to meet some really awesome people. He met Mr.Nak, Shelly, Elvis, Hudge and many more. Some of the kids like Elvis, believe that he doesn't belong in the class because he did nothing wrong. All Bo does is workout, go home and go to anger management in the mornings. He has become almost obsessed with working out and getting in shape for the big triathlon. Bo has a really good friend name Mr. S and yes, he is a teacher. They know each other very well and Bo trusts him with a lot of secrets in Bo's life. For Bo's training he goes to the swimming pool because Mr.S is the coach. He ends up beating some of the college kids during a race. One of the kids, Wyrack, doesn’t like that a high school kid is beaten him at his sport. After a few swims, Wyrack warns Bo that if he beats him again that he will pay. During anger management class, also known as the Nak Pak, Bo gets to know a girl named Shelly very well. They become very good friends, and eventually closer than friends. Shelly is a very muscular girl and helps Bo pace himself through his training for the triathlon. She shows him that he can’t push himself so hard or he will hurt himself. They work out together and she helps him find himself for the triathlon. Shelly knows all about the triathlon and bets Wyrack that he can’t beat Bo. They bet that if Bo wins, Wyrack has to pay him $500 and if Wyrack wins, Bo will have to pay him $500. Bo was shocked when he found this out but it gave him more determination to win the competition. He worked out more and better, pacing himself and not killing his body. Bo kept on going to the anger management class and many things started happening. Everyone in the class started becoming friends and joining together to help Bo win the triathlon. When the triathlon day came, the kids had a huge surprise for Bo. They gave Bo a tape and told him to press play write as he was starting. The tape had music and some words from everyone that kept Bo going strong in the triathlon. In the end, of course, Bo won!! He beat Wyrack thanks to his determination and the help from his new friends. In the end of the book, Mr. Nak decides to go to Texas and go back to what he had left behind. Bo faces his dad about his problems and settles them down with a psychiatrist. This book makes you think and feel for everyone. You can be sad and then glad in an instant and that makes the book great.
Character Description and Development:

Bo (Beaugrad Brewster) - Beaugrad Brewster, also known as Bo, Had many different aspects that made him, him. Bo can be angry, happy, sad and confused all in one day, nevertheless sometimes in thirty minutes. He is a very nice guy but has so many mixed emotions that he can not deal with. For example, in the beginning of the book, Bo is calm, then angry, then happy and last he is confused. In this part of the book Bo starts out calm in school and than gets angry at Mr. Redmond. He gets happy after he gets kicked out of class but then confused when he had to choose between home schooling and anger management. While he has so many emotions, he is also very determined. When Bo is doing the triathlon, he is determined to win or at least do better than Wyrack. Bo would do anything to do well in the triathlon. He worked out every day and even watched what he ate just to do well. While Bo has many emotions, he is always determined to succeed in life. Bo didn’t really develop much throughout the book. He gained new friends and he proved himself to his dad and to himself. He showed people who thought he was a quitter that he can do it. He got to meet some amazing people and hopefully would have stayed friends with them if the book went on.
Shelly- In the book Ironman, Shelly is a very spunky character with different emotions. One emotion she shows is sadness. She shows sadness a lot when she is in class and listening to the other group member’s situations in life. When she was telling Bo about her life, I figured she would get very emotional but she sucked it up and she didn’t get very emotional. Another emotion she shows is happiness. While she can be very sad, she is very happy. Shelly is very happy about the way her life is going and she gets excited for others when something good happens their lives. Shelly has a very energetic and spunky personality. Sometimes Shelly has a huge attitude but it’s not a big problem. She can also be very controlling because she loves to get her way. For example, when Bo and Shelly were working out, she would tell Bo to do this and that because she was the best. Shelly is a very muscular girl and intimidates the boys sometimes because she has so many muscles that you can see. Shelly grew up in the book. It seems like she opened up more in the book than ever before. I didn’t really know who she was in the beginning of the book until Bo talked about her being her girlfriend. She is more open to friendship and relationships and got to know the kids in anger management a lot more than she had known them before.
Hudge- Hudge seems really sweet but he is afraid of a lot in life. He is afraid of his family and the world and I think that hides his personality from everyone he knows. Hudge learned to trust the anger management kids more. He started to trust the kids with his secrets, which is a really big step.
Mr.Nak- Mr. Nak has had a very time through out his whole life. Mr. Nak seems like a very nice person who cares deeply about others and not himself. He’s one of those people who always puts others first, but never him. He takes care of the anger management kids like they are his own children and that really connects them together and lets the kids trust him. Mr. Nak is a very happy person. That’s really the only emotion in the book that is portrayed in the book. He is always happy to see that all the kids showed up at class or to hear about issues being resolved. He was only sad once and that was when Hudge’s dad shot his dog. I absolutely agree why he was sad during that part of the book because that was horrible and Hudge didn’t deserve that. Mr. Nak grew a lot in the book. He decided to go back to Texas after years of being away. Ok just so you know if you don’t know, Mr. Nak killed his kids in a drunk driving accident in Texas and he was the drunk driver. It would take guts to go back there after what had happened. He showed the kids that they can’t run away from things.
Wyrack- I think Wyrack learned that he can’t have everything he wants. He try’s to beat everyone at everything because he thinks he is the best at everything, even though he’s NOT!! I hope he learned that he has to let others before him sometimes and not always just relay on himself.
Elvis- I think that Elvis is a nice guy with a hard outer shell. He seems like a tough, muscular guy but he is a soft sweet guy on the outside. He wants people to be afraid of him in all situations. I think he learned that he doesn’t need everyone to be afraid of him and that people will like him for him. Elvis only developed with that fact that he trusts people now. He also isn’t tearing people down right when he meets them. He gets to know the real them first and then he will tell them that he doesn’t like them, well if he doesn’t.
Lucas (Bo’s Dad) - Lucas finally understands that Bo is NOT a quitter. He always thought that just because he quit football one year and he apparently let his team down. I think that is really stupid. I think that since Lucas left the triathlon he felt stupid for always saying that about his son and for helping Wyrack out. He learned that he has to help his son and be there for him.

Setting:

There are many settings in the book Ironman. The book takes place in the 1990’s in Clark Fork, Washington. One setting in Ironman is the anger management classroom. Bo ends up spending a lot of his time in the anger management class and it’s probably more than he ever thought he would. He learns a lot about himself and his life in that room. There is no description of the room but that room is holding many secrets and ambitions of those kids. Another setting is just Mother Nature herself. You can really sum up Mother Nature of were it was because Mother Nature is everywhere. Bo does the triathlon and he has to swim in a lake, run and bike. These all happen outside and the triathlon is a huge part of the book. Another setting is Bo’s school. What happens at school isn’t a very good thing and seems like no one believes in him and that makes school hard for Bo. The last setting is the swimming pool and/ or the workout room. Bo spends so much time working out that this had to be a big setting as well. He has to get in shape for the triathlon and there is no better way than working his butt off. While working in the gym he also worked out at the swimming pool. That is were he made some friends… and some enemies. The swimming pool is were he met Wyrack and Wyrack is partly responsible for why he was pumped for the triathlon. There are many settings in the book Ironman that help the whole story come together.