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Premise
The overall setting of the book "Stotan!" by Chris Crutcher is at Frost which is where the main characters, Nortie, Lion, Jeff, Max, and the narrator, hang out. Lion has the heart of a lion and he's super creative, and Nortie is sweet and caring. The narrator stands up for his friends, but he tries to pick and chose his battles wisely. Max teaches and owns the team while Jeff is a jokester and great at getting revenge. The overall premise of the book is about sticking up for your friends. -
Troubles at Home
In the book, there are many characters, but a lot of the story revolves around Nortie. Nortie seems like your average kid, but one day he finally spills the beans on how brutal his dad is. However, no matter how many times his dad beats him and his mom, Nortie always comes back. Thinking: The book starts with Nortie being quiet and kind of like the runt of the group. Him telling everybody about his old man gave him a lot more character and changed my impression on him. -
What's a Stotan?
Max comes out with a mysterious sign. "Stotan Week" is all that it reads along with the dates and times. Jeff tries to play it off cool, Lion keeps quiet, the narrator is worried, and Nortie is completely scared out of his mind. Nobody knows what a "Stotan" is, but Nortie ends up falling to peer pressure and signs up. The following week is going to be tough. Thinking: Nortie is probably a bit of a push over because of what goes on at home. -
This. Is. STOTAAAAAAAAAANNNNN!!!!!!
The week has finally come and everybody is pushed to their limits and further. After the first day, their bodies train almost subconsiously. The gang finds out that "Stotan" is a cross between Spartan and Stoic. The expression means to show no fear and to stay strong, and that is exactly what they do. Thinking: At this point in the story, I feel like Nortie is a completely different charcter than he lets off and that his experiences at home have shaped him to be emotional and tough. -
Stotan Stories.
As part of their Stotan mood, the guys decide to go around sharing stories of when they were a Stotan. Even after the narrator tells Nortie he doesn't have to, Nortie tells a huge story from his childhood. He had a brother that none of the dudes knew about. When he was six years old, his brother killed himself because of how abusive the environment at home was. Thinking: This part of the book was an honest shock, but Nortie again shows his true brave charcter he has. -
Daddy Problems
Nortie isn't exactly supposed to be together with his girlfriend. In fact, the couple only went to more run down places just so their fathers would find out about their relationship. It's a bit of a Romeo Juliet story. His dad of course soon finds about this forbidden girl and punishes Nortie. Nortie is completely broken, bloody, and bruised.Thinking: I'm not exactly sure why the father was upset about this girl, but I wish that was maybe brought into a little finer detail. -
Drugs and a New Move
Afterward, Nortie just wanders the streets and comes across the narrator's brother, Long John. Long John is pretty much an 18 year old high on freedom trapped in the body of a 30 year old. He gives Nortie a drug to "help" with the pain. After the narrator finds Nortie, he takes Nortie and has him move in. Thinking: Honestly, besides joining the swim team, moving in with a friend so suddenly is probably the best thing to happen to poor Nortie. -
Sick Stotan
After Stotan week and a swim competition, Jeff pushes himself too hard and completely collapses. After taking him to the hospital, everybody has to go home except for Max who stays with Jeff for a bit. Nortie starts crying and the narrator tries to comfort him. Lion keeps quiet, but the whole feel in the book has turned 180 degrees. Thinking: I really like how the story's plot moves up and down and this event is a prime example. -
The Big Bully
'O Brian is a bully that's popped up here and there. Somehow, he finds out about what's been going on with Jeff and runs into Nortie at a bar/diner. He pokes fun at Nortie's girlfriend who is there for being black. At first, Nortie and her ignore it, but once 'O Brian mentions Jeff, Nortie starts a fight. Things don't end well for Nortie. Thinking: Nortie has really been going through a lot his entire life, but the reoccuring theme that seems to be presented is how maturely Nortie handles them. -
Revenge is Sweet
After what happened with 'O Brian, the gang wants revenge and they want revenge bad. Who's the best person to turn to? Jeff. Jeff gets from his place and orders Lion to get his Jeep. After tying a matress to the back, they find 'O Brian and his side kick's cars near a shallow part of a river by the parking lot. They ram both cars in and wait. After the bullies find their fancy pantsy cars stuck, they have to give the boys as much money as they have. -
My Thinking
Thinking: I was actually surprised when this event occurred. It reminded me of the cute little "teenage typical boy" events going on. While most of the story has kind of a bit of a dark theme, events like these level it out nicely. -
Learning to Cope
Towards the end of the book, everything seems to settle and peace is somewhat restored. They fight through the competition for Jeff and all is right. Jeff's disease (which was later identified as a possibly terminal blood disease) hasn't shown any sign of giving up, but the boys haven't either. The book kind of leads on a "you interpret what happened" and I'd like to believe Jeff got better. -
My Thinking Yet Again
Thinking: The ending was surprising to me for some reason. It kind of left a little emptiness after I closed the book got to tell my mom "I finished the book". At first I didn't like how it left off, but I think "the boy got better and they lived happily ever after" would be stale and "yeah by the way that funny character died" might as well have killed my emotions with it. -
Ending Thoughts
I really enjoyed how this story was created. Towards the beginning, I even thought that Chris wrote this shortly after each event happend that it seemed so real, balanced, and hard-knock-life-like. Ever since hearing his book, "King of the Mild Frontier", I was interested because how the author conveys his thoughts which is why I checked the book out. I was not dissapointed. I'm really glad I read this.
