Playground - Book Review

Title ~ Playground
Series ~ Single Title
Author ~ 50 Cent
Release Date ~ November 1, 2011
Age Group ~ Young Adult
Publisher ~ Razorbill
Source ~ Razorbill

GOODREADS SUMMARY

Thirteen-year-old Butterball doesn’t have much going for him. He’s teased mercilessly about his weight. He hates the Long Island suburb his mom moved them to and wishes he still lived with his dad in the city. And now he’s stuck talking to a totally out-of-touch therapist named Liz.

Liz tries to uncover what happened that day on the playground—a day that landed one kid in the hospital and Butterball in detention. Butterball refuses to let her in on the truth, and while he evades her questions, he takes readers on a journey through the moments that made him into the playground bully he is today.

This devastating yet ultimately redemptive story is told in voice-driven prose and accented with drawings and photographs, making it a natural successor to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

Loosely inspired by 50 Cent’s own adolescence, and written with his fourteen-year-old son in mind, Playground is sure to captivate wide attention— and spark intense discussion.

REVIEW

I was really surprised when Playground showed up in the mail. Come on now! WHAT could I have in common with a bully named Butterball? I went into the book with really low expectations. I. WAS. WRONG. Playground was a deep thinking type of read for me and Butterball was a sort of hero. I could see a lot of middle school and high school boys liking it.

Butterball was an overweight African American kid from the city with umm… a lot… of issues. At first, Butterball was not an easy character to identify with. He was stuck-up, easily angered, and never happy with what he had. I really did not like him. That is, at first. As I read on, and got farther into Butterball’s crazy world, I saw where his personality and tendencies had come from. He was the end product of his environment.

The writing of Playground was definitely unique. There was quite a colorful vocabulary that all of the characters used. It felt like practically every other word was a swear word. Granted, this is not the kind of talk I am used to, but I appreciated that 50 Cent was keeping it real. I get it. These kids are not going to talk like my friends and I talk.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed reading about these characters. Underneath it all, everyone is ultimately the same. We are all affected by our surroundings, we all make mistakes, and we all hope for forgiveness. I’m glad I read Playground after all.