Crush (Contemporary Realistic Fiction)

Crush by Gary Paulsen

(Contemporary Realistic Fiction/Intermediate-Advanced reader)

Crush is the light-hearted story of fourteen-year-old Kevin Spencer and his scientific quest to learn about romance. Trying to figure out how to approach Tina, a girl he likes at school, Kevin plans a date night for his parents so he can observe their behavior, tags along with his best friend JonPaul and JonPaul’s girlfriend Sam for the afternoon, and even asks for advice from his older sister; he does everything but actually talk to Tina.

Crush is an example of contemporary realistic fiction because it is a story about “people and events that could actually happen” and it is set in the present day (Galda, 2010, p. 232). It is also an example of a chapter book in series. Paulsen has written several books about Kevin, each with a different focus.

One of the primary characteristics of contemporary realistic fiction is that the setting, characterization, and plot are believable; that they could actually take place today. Crush is set in a fairly typical town and neighborhood, there is not a lot of detail about the specific location, but the scenes are familiar, rotating between Kevin’s home, school, the ice-rink, and neighbors’ houses. Kevin is a unique but relatable example of an eighth-grade boy. Without being portrayed as an overly stereotypical boy, readers will be able to recognize aspects of Kevin in people they know. He has a wonderful sense of humor, is highly social, overanalyzes romance, and is a fantastic babysitter for his preschool neighbor. Over the course of the book, Kevin goes through some perspective shifts brought on by his experiences and various interactions. It is a book of discovery! The plot is also believable, centered around a common point of conflict and confusion for adolescents, relationships. Themes include, growing up, peer relationships, even family relationships as Kevin spends a lot of time considering how his family and parents operate as well as the experience of a neighbor couple going through a separation. Style is large part of what makes this book engaging. Interesting chapter titles: “The Scientific Mind Believes that Observing the Behavior of Test Subjects is Essential” (Paulsen, 2010, p. 14), pertinent cultural references such as Madame Curie’s experiments gone wrong, and text dialogue: “u free 4 a smoothie?” (Paulsen, 2012, p. 111) all give this book a distinct flavor.

This book does not contain illustrations apart from the book cover. The cover shows a realistic but somewhat cartoonish image (drawn or painted) of a boy facing away from the reader with a scraggly bouquet hidden behind his back. The background is bright yellow and the lettering is boldly set in green and red. The style fits the tone of the book, happy and somewhat childlike.

ACTIVITIES:

1. Have students design a scientific approach to answer a question of their own. Begin by having them ask a question about their world and then encourage students to consider how they could approach their question using the steps of the scientific method outlined in Crush: "form a hypothesis, research, study, observe and experiment" (Paulsen, 2012, p. 15).
2. Have students keep a notebook for several weeks about things that happen in their lives. Each week, students should select events or experiences they wrote about that they think might make a good story and then brainstorm how they might write about the subject. At the end of the observation period have students select one experience or a series of related events as inspiration and write a short story about it (Galda, 2010, p. 232).

READER RESPONSE QUESTIONS:

1. What lessons did Kevin learn in this book? How did his experiments help or hurt his quest to talk to Tina?
2. Choose two characters that you learned something from while reading Crush. What and how did they teach you?

I laughed out loud reading this book. Paulsen and Kevin get into some funny situations together. Readers will enjoy being pulled into a world they can relate to and may even come away with some new realizations about love, relationships, and life. If this book is a hit be sure to check out Paulsen’s other Kevin books including Liar, Liar and Flat Broke as well as his many other works.

References

Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2010). Literature and the child (7th ed.). Belmont, CA:
Wadsworths, Inc

Paulsen, G. (2012). Crush. New York: Wendy Lamb Books.

Cover image from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/books/crush-the-theory-practice-and-destructive-properties-of-love-b/