BoTW: Crash

At first glance, you might think that Crash by Jerry Spinelli is just a book about middle school bullying. As you read, however, it slowly dawns on you that the book is really about issues closely related to the bullying the main character commits: fear, friends and family, and death.

Don't read Crash expecting a blatant condemnation of bullying. It's true that Crash undergoes a character transformation that forces him to rethink how he treats his Quaker neighbor. But Crash is as complex a character as the many reasons for why he bullied in the first place. The book is a great examination of teenagers and what makes them do the things they do.