Crash by Jerry Spinelli

John 'Crash' Coogan didn't get his nickname by being the sensitive, touchy-feely type. He always wins first place in everything; the blue ribbon in every race and highest number of tackles in every football game. He loves how he looks in shoulder pads and he has to have the most expensive sneakers at the mall. So when he meets Penn, a scrawny, four-eyed, new kid with a pet turtle, he does what comes naturally - he torments him.

What I love about this book is that it is many stories rolled into one. As these stories play out, you watch Crash grow up and reevaluate his life. It's a story about aging grandparents and traditions; Crash's beloved, scrumptious-food-cooking, story-telling grandfather is dying and Penn wants to run a race that his own grandfather proudly ran when he was a kid. In the background of the story is Crash's little sister who is passionately organizing an environmental rally against a building project that her own mother is heading up! Also, Crash is so confident that he expects, in fact demands, that his love interest like him back, but she doesn't. Worse, she is friends with Penn and she despises how Crash treats him. John 'Crash' Coogan might not be the center of the universe after all.

If you love fiction that is very realistic and takes on pressing life issues you'll love this book. But it's not all serious either; you will definitely laugh at the dialogue and the antics of Crash's sister. This really is a novel that will make you think and I hope you read it, especially if you're a bully.