Chinese Handcuffs

Still troubled by his older brother's violent suicide, eighteen-year-old Dillon becomes deeply involved in the terrible secret of his friend Jennifer, who feels she can tell no one what her stepfather is doing to her. When Dillon Hemingway is forced to witness his brother Preston's suicide, his life understandably seems to fall apart. His quest to make it whole again involves Stacy Ryder, Preston's girlfriend, who is left with more than a memeory of Dillon's dead brother, and Jennifer Lawless, a star high school basketball player with a secret too monstrous to tell and too enormous to keep. His antagonist are a vicious cycling gang, a single-minded school principal, and Jennifer's father, a brilliant lawyer with a chilling disregard for human sensitivity. Chris Crutcher's Chinese Handcuffs is a story about a time when life seems too overwhelming to confront. It is also a story of courage and acceptance, told with power and sensibility.

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Lindsey Ziegler

Not my favorite of his books, but strong characters and narrative

February 15, 2013

Sionna

Issues: Suicide, forced to watch suicide, incest-rape, statutory rape, gang rape, teen pregnancy, motorcycle accident->paraplegic, drug abuse

This book is very issue-driven, yet at the same time is not because the author does mention how doing the right thing is not always possible. So, calling this book an issue-book may not be correct. Either way, this is not one I would recommend to adults, or even often to teens, but their may be some teens out there who will find comfort from this text.

This is a character-driven book. Dillon is the one this book mainly revolves around, even though Jen is the one currently in crisis. Dillon and Jen are both characters that have needed to grow up fast, Jen more so than Dillon, and try to run their own lives, but their emotions and answers to problems are still very teen. It was a good blend. We are told, in detail, about the characters, especially Dillon in his long letters to his dead brother, Preston. There is no confusing the main characters, nor the significant side-characters. They are written well.

Because this book is character focused, there is not quite a plot here, unless is it Dillon fixing a problem, being the hero, and in turn fixing his own problem. All in all, I thought it was quite dry. This book is over 20 years old though, so at the time, this may have been a good book, but now with many other books on the subject and on teen life written out, it has lost its appeal.

October 24, 2017