Playground
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4.8 • 4 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
This critically acclaimed novel, loosely inspired by 50 Cent's own adolescence, shows how a kid becomes a bully.
“50 Cent is the perfect voice to speak to such an important issue affecting our youth.”—Russell Simons, co-founder of Def Jam Recordings
“Unrepentant, unpretentious, and authentic.”—Publishers Weekly
“Eye-opening and compassionate.”—VOYA
Butterball doesn't have it easy. He’s teased about his weight. He hates the Long Island suburb his mom moved them to so she could go back to school and start her life over. He wishes he still lived with his dad in New York City, where there’s always something happening, even if his dad doesn’t have much time for him. Still, that’s not why he beat up another kid on the playground with a sock full of batteries.
Butterball’s lips are sealed about what happened that day. But some tales can’t help being told. And this is one of them.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Rapper turned actor and author 50 Cent makes his YA debut with a candid tale about a middle-schooler dealing with pressures from his peers and his broken family. Overweight and nearly friendless, "Butterball" has just been suspended from school for assaulting a classmate with a sock filled with batteries. As he returns to school, visits his father in New York City, and talks to his therapist, Liz, his frustrations come to light. His always-working mother has too little time for him, while his father spends most of their occasional weekends together encouraging his violence (even forcing him to shoplift) and making fun of his weight. Although Butterball benefits from some positive influences, including Liz and his friend Nia, it's his desire to better himself (and his interest in filmmaking) that help him overcome his circumstances and his reputation. 50 Cent's story follows a predictable arc, but he throws in some twists and doesn't hold back when portraying violence or Butterball's difficult home life. Butterball's unrepentant, unpretentious, and authentic narrative voice, meanwhile, is more than enough to carry the story. Ages 12 up.
