Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher is about a high school senior named T.J. Jones, who struggles with racism, bullying, society, anger, and fear. He is adopted and lives with his foster parents. His mother is a lawyer and his dad is stuck on a day when he accidentally ran over his girlfriend's son with his truck.
Because of his mixed heritage, he is discriminated against a lot by his peers. There are two men in the book named Mike and Rich, who make T.J.'s life harder in and out of school. T.J. has to control his anger a lot through out the book, because of the actions of these two men. T.J.'s dad always advises him to take "Not one minute for revenge."
T.J. joins the swim team and finds solace with the other outcast members. Being on the team, bonds the boys, and makes them feel like they belong somewhere. The boys look up to T.J.
