Crutcher, C. (2005). The
sledding hill. NY: Greenwillow Books.
Eddie Proffit
encounters a great loss and feels depressed when his father and his best friend,
Billy, pass away. Eddie does not know how to react when they pass away a
month away from each other. He suddenly stops talking and goes completely mute.
His best friend’s soul remains on Earth, wanders next to him and gives him hope
over the deaths. At first, Eddie thinks that he's going crazy and believes that his
best friend is haunting him. Then after being taken to the sledding hill where
they had so many good times, he realizes that Billy is really there. Eddie’s mother desperately not knowing how to help Eddie decides
to join a church, the Red Brock Church. She seeks help for him and
Eddie slowly begins to talk again. Eddie starts speaking again and
only because he desires to stand up to a conservative minister and English
teacher who is orchestrating a censorship challenge. Once Eddie is making new
friends and even on his way to gaining a girlfriend, Billy knows that it is
time to move on. The primary reason that Billy stayed on Earth was to help
Eddie overcome his fear of loss. When Eddie is beyond this, Billy says goodbye.
This unique book that is narrated by
a dead person would be a great recommendation for Banned Books Week. It has
many themes and one of them is that everyone has the freedom to read or write what they want too. It is
shown when the Red Brick Church group tries to ban the book Warren Peece simply
because of its bad words and morals. They are successful, but all of the
students who related to the book continued to read it. Another primary theme from this young adult novel is
friendship. Billy and Eddie form a friendship that is endless and even death
cannot separate the two boys. Also, it shows that when life is rough, the best
thing to do is to keep on going.
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