State Library of Kansas  :  Kansas Center for the Book  :  Letters About Literature  :  Past Winners

2010 Winner: Kathryn Williams (Level 3)

Book Title: Chinese Handcuffs

Book Author: Chris Crutcher

Dear Chris Crutcher,

I picked up Chinese Handcuffs because I thought the title was intriguing, and after I shed some tears, it became one of my favorite books. There are secrets we keep in our lives that ultimately emerge to define who we are. No matter how painful they are, we must face them eventually and in Chinese Handcuffs, we learn we must fight back.

Chinese Handcuffs was the most difficult novel I have ever read in my life. It wasn’t the length or the vocabulary that was troubling; it was because it made me face the truth. I found myself dreading to turn the page from the fear that everything I had buried would resurrect itself. However, I kept going because I felt some strange duty to Jennifer’s and Dillon’s dilemmas. Your characters are rooted in reality and speak in a dialect that made the tense subject readable. I don’t think I could have kept reading had it been written any other way.

Your character Jennifer was amazingly written and developed throughout the book. When you finally revealed what was really going on in her home life, two things happened. One, I became nauseous (rape isn’t a light topic). Two, I was appreciative that you wrote about it honestly, not trying to soften it and making the reader really understand the monstrosity that was occurring. Perhaps one of the scariest feelings to endure is knowing that you are not safe at home. I relate to Jennifer also because of the way she distances herself from the people she cares about in her life. Likewise, even those that I consider to be close to my heart know almost nothing about my past.

Dillon’s letters to Preston were part of the reason I love this book as much as I do. Writing is sometimes the only way I know to sift through my problems and state what I wish I could say to people. It’s not fair how the people in your life go and let you down. Preston’s suicide was selfish and left Dillon to deal with the problems Preston was running from. Also, the letters were a clever way of moving the story and showing what Dillon was coping with. Like Dillon, I don’t understand why the world is so harsh and good people have to suffer.

This book resonated deep into my life from the first words to the very last page. Your novel made an impact because it was honest in its conclusion. There are not always going to be complete happy endings to the atrocities that we witness. There is only today, and we must take each step as bravely as we can. To me, that was really important to have in the Chinese Handcuffs. A happy ending would have just cheapened the story and made me angry because in my reality, I found no positive conclusion.

Chinese Handcuffs is a book that has a special place in my mind. It challenged me and made the scars from my past hurt again, but through the book I found some sort of solace. The way you wrote the book allowed the voice for the abused to be heard. People don’t realize that Jennifer and Dillon could be anyone; that abuse is much more common than what people would llike to believe. Your novel took me out of my comfort zone and I’m so grateful that you did. Keep writing books, Chris. Teenagers like me rely on you to speak for us.

Sincerely,

Kathryn Willilams

Blue Skyways | State Library of Kansas
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