Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher, 2001.

A youth librarian from Clarks Summit recommended this to me, saying she wanted to adopt all the boys and take them home. I did like it very much, but it verges on what's become excellent-YA-novel formula: a narrator wise beyond his years and wonderful in every way except for a temper (he's smart, handsome, and a natural athlete too! plus he has the absolute perfect girlfriend!); nastier than nasty villains; a motley team that comes together and helps each one feel better about himself. Reads very much like Jerry Spinelli, Joan Bauer, or Bruce Brooks. T.J. (The Tao--his given name) Jones is mixed-race in a racist town, and a battered wife & abused child are a subplot; I can't say these issues aren't handled well, but there's just something that rings a little false. Maybe it's that TJ, despite his desire to beat up the thugs, ultimately is remarkably saintly (let alone his adoptive dad, who dies a Christ-like death at the end). Maybe it's the (black) counselor's name being "Georgia Brown" and actually referred to as "Sweet Georgia Brown." (The copy I read is advanced uncorrected proofs, so maybe an editor convinced Crutcher to change it). Maybe it's the father figure who ends up coaching TJ's rag-tag swim team--he lives illegally in the gym so he can send his son to college, works double shifts at fast food joints, yet is perfectly happy to get by on 4 hours sleep a night so he can coach in the early AM and drive them to all the swim meets (hours in each direction). But these are relatively minor gripes--it was a compelling read and I rooted for all the boys.