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Summary: The book Stotan! is about four swimmers and their lives during their last high school swimming season. The four characters, Nortie Wheeler, Lion, Jeff, and Walker are the only members of Frost High School’s swim team (Elaine, a girl that used to swim, is also a character but she only practices with them and is not part of the team). The majority of the book takes place during ‘Stotan Week’ a training and endurance week set up by their coach, Max Il Song. During this week they stay together at Lion’s ‘bachelor pad’. Lion lives alone because his parents died and he was at an age where he could live alone or choose to go to a foster family. Nortie has to be forced to stay with them because he is afraid of the abuse his mother might get from his father while he is away, but he eventually agrees and comes along. The first day of ‘Stotan Week’ is horrible. All of them are beyond sore and exhausted. They don’t think that they can get through the rest of the week but the next day they get up and go again. In the following days they gain strength and finally understand the purpose of the week. One night, while sharing ‘Stotan Stories’, Nortie lets out a big secret from his past. He shares that his brother, Jeremy had committed suicide and that he was the one who found his brother, hanged, in the garage. Walker, Lion, and Jeff are shocked by this story and don’t know how to react. They finish off the week and feel bittersweet about its end. They now resume regular workouts and continue to train for competitions. After a couple of weeks they head off to Montana state championships. They all pack in the van with Max and drive. While practicing on the second or third day, Jeff collapses while swimming. He is rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. He is asked to stay overnight and of course he complies. During a visit with Jeff, Walker overhears the doctor and Max talking and learns that Jeff’s condition is serious (this is confirmed later in the novel). Finally, Jeff is able to leave the hospital and they drive back home to Spokane. When they get back, Marty O’Brian, the school bully, tells Mr. Wheeler about Nortie’s relationship with Milika, an African-American girl who works at the same child care center as Nortie. Mr. Wheeler is a racist who overreacts when he learns of this. The next time Nortie is seen, he is full of bruises. Lion, Walker, and Jeff do not react very well to the news of another occurrence of Mr. Wheeler’s abuse. They go to his house and take his things and move Nortie into Walker’s house. This goes well, but Nortie is also scared for his mom because he is not there to protect her against his father. The book leaves off with Jeff telling his friends that he is dying because of a blood disease. Walker takes this information and decides to tell Elaine about his feelings for her and break things off with Devnee.

Setting: The book takes place in Spokane in the late 1980s

Characters: Max Il Song is the swim team coach. He is very strong and is tough, in a good way on the swimmers.

Walker is the main character in the book whose parents are older in age. His brother, Long John, is a "hippie" and does drugs. He is a swimmer on the Frost High School Team.

Lion is a swimmer whose parents died two years ago. He lives on his own.

Jeff is yet another swimmer who has an absesed tooth in which he uses to threaten people. At the end of the book, Jeff is diagnosed with a blood disease.

Nortie is the fastest swimmer on teh team. His dad is very abusive and is a racist. Nortie has gone through the loss of a brother but is still mentally strong.