Crutcher, C. (2005). The sledding hill. NY: Greenwillow Books. Eddie Proffit is the protagonist in The Sledding Hill. In the novel, after Eddie’s father and best friend, Billy, die, Eddie stops talking, but Billy’s spirit remains Earthbound and walks Eddie through the steps he needs to take to get over the deaths. Meanwhile, Eddie’s mother seeks help from the Red Brock Church, and Eddie begins to talk only after announcing that he will join the church and defends the teachings of a novel Warren Peece that Reverend Tarter despises. The novel ends with Eddie making new friends and a girlfriend. This causes Billy to see it is time to move on and says goodbye to Eddie. I think a lesson that might come from reading The Sledding Hill includes anyone who can relate to having fear and loss when coping with the death of a loved one or a friend, or both like Eddie in the book. I believe the entire book can serve as a step-by-step guide to deal with tragic losses. The Sledding Hill meets the mental developmental criteria because Eddie believes he is going crazy when he sees Billy’s Earthbound spirit “haunting” him until he comes to terms with the fact that Billy’s spirit is not a ghost, but in fact Billy. The Sledding Hill also meets the emotional developmental criteria because Eddie has to cope with the losses of people close to him, and the social developmental criteria because Eddie deals with the deaths in his own way, by blocking out everyone and silencing himself from society.
