(evaluation of novel)

Ideas and Content: The ideas in this book are very obvious and they are aggression and family issues. An example of this is, “It was the nature of my father’s power over us that no one outside the family had an inkling of my interment. Even as we stood locked in our struggle, I knew family business was no one else’s and never thought to call for help.”(Crutcher37) Bo is talking about how he never had talked about his family issues with others and that he is unsure about telling others. Another example of family issues is, “And Hudge was screaming at the cops to leave his dad alone while they hauled him off! I mean, he didn’t even know it was his dad’s fault, Lar; Hudge thought he killed the dog.”(Crutcher197) This shows family issues because it shows how stupid t is of Hudge to protect his dad even though he is the one who shot his dog. Chris Crutcher makes a point about what he is trying to tell his readers in the book.

Organization: The book makes sense all together. There is nothing that is out of place or seems like it shouldn’t be in that one part of the book. Sometimes reading the journal entries can be a little confusing because Bo is writing them to someone else and he is re-writing the event that we just read about.

Individual Voice: I believe that every character in this book has their own voice because of what they say, or what happens. “Let me tell you why. I’m goin’ back to Texas. They got a senior rodeo circuit down there I can join u with. I’m goin’ because of what I saw at Yukon Jack’s. I been payin’ less attention to the physical world that I should, getting’ outta contact. When I saw young Brewster here workin’ his way through that hellish event, it got me to rememberin’ what it was like to be on a bareback bronc, how it felt to know exactly where that thunderous devil was goin’ next, just from the tension in his muscle against my knee. I been payin’ attention to other folks’ lives-an’ learnin’ some while I was at it-but now its time to start payin’ attention to my own agin.”(Crutcher278) Mr. Nak really shows his individual voice in this and shows what he feels like. Chris Crutcher really contributes to how the characters are feeling and what they would say, not what others would say.

Word Choice: I wouldn’t say that Chris Crutchers word choice is the best but its okay. It’s not extraordinary like some other books, but he does have some good words. I don’t think he made it extraordinary because he was aiming for a teenager to read it and teenagers don’t usually get turned on by big words. I really liked this line, not because of the word choice, but because I can just imagine Bo saying it and I can see the expression on Bo’s face while he is saying it. “Jeez, the kid is in kindergarten, and her he is sending psychic penetrations deep into Dad’s soft tissue and looking like Linda Blair getting ready to spin her head around while he’s at it.”(Crutcher159)

Sentence Fluency: The sentences flowed very well together. Chris Crutcher made them sound very well together unless something wasn’t supposed to. When someone was supposed to stumble on words, he still made it sound nice.

Conventions: He used correct spelling and grammar throughout the whole book. I never read anything that sounded in correct. There are times when I thought I did but I just had to re-read and understand it.

Presentation: The presentation is very pleasing and the cover shows what the book is about. The cover catches your eye and you understand in the end why the biker is on the cover.