Backround Information

In the summer??
In The Sledding Hill Eddie and Billy are the best of friends. They have been since they were little kids. Eddie’s dad died in an accident dealing with a tire blowing up. Next month Billy kicks over a stack of sheetrock and it falls on him and Billy dies. Billy ends up becoming a ghost and stays around just so he can help Eddie get through his dad dying and his best friend dying just one month apart. Eddie now has to deal with his basically only friend not being there in school and his dad not being there to give him advice. He has to also deal with a really mean teacher, who is also a preacher, at school who doesn’t allow any of Eddie’s random thoughts in class. Eddie has a class where you have to read a book that has some mature content in it. Some kids and adults don’t think that book should be allowed in school, so they want to ban it. Eddie is a kid who is reading the book and he really enjoys it. It makes him feel as though there are other people who have problems in life just like him, so he doesn’t feel as alone. Eddie sees Billy in a dream and figures out that he’s a ghost and is going to be there for Eddie as long as he needs him. Also, Eddie has to get baptized even though he doesn’t want to, but he decides that he needs to be where the enemy is. Eddie becomes friends with Billy’s dad and they talk a lot about how to get through life and all the problems they have. Eddie is pretending to be for banning the book, even though he’s not. Eddie decided that when it’s time to make his big speech about why they should ban the book that he will talk about how they shouldn’t ban it. He gets help from Billy’s dad and even Chris Crutcher himself. He has to over come many struggles, in himself and in his community.
The setting of the novel in The Sledding Hill is a small town in Idaho called Bear Creek. It takes place in present day.
Eddie is a kid that has so much going on in his head that he can’t focus on just one thing. He has really interesting thoughts and opinions about everything. Eddie is a smaller guy who is really only good at running, mostly because he’s not big enough to be a football player so he had to pick another sport. When he runs he can concentrate on one thing, so he always runs so he can clear his mind and focus on one thing. He really liked to run with Billy, because he knew that Billy was always listening to what he had to say. Throughout the book Eddie realizes that he can do anything he sets out to do and also that he actually can make a difference.
Billy is a dead kid who decides to stay with Eddie until Eddie doesn’t need him anymore. Billy helps Eddie through all of his troubles and problems. Billy is really smart because he can get any information from any living person in a matter of a couple seconds. He also can see what people are doing and thinking, so basically he’s an all knowing being. He’s the one he writes The Sledding Hill for Crutcher and he tells the reader that at the end of the book. In the end of the book Billy goes towards the light.