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Playground (2011)

by 50 Cent(Favorite Author)

3.71 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

159514434X (ISBN13: 9781595144348)

languge

English

genre

Middle Grade & Children's

publisher

Razorbill

review 1: I picked up this book because it said "50 cent". I work with at-risk students who "hate" reading but love rap music. I decided to read it to see if it might be something my students would be interested in. I didn't have high hopes for the book or expect to be a masterpiece. Most YA isn't to begin with. I think that's the most important thing to say about this book. It's about a 13 year old boy. One that many REAL children can identify with. As much as I love reading about kids becoming heroes and "saving the world", that just doesn't happen in real life. Butterball is a kid that real children at 13 years old can identify with. There's nothing special about him. He wasn't the "chosen one", he doesn't save the world and he doesn't lead a revolution. He's a kid who gets in a ... morefight about something stupid and has to deal with things that real kids deal with.
review 2: SPOILER ALERT!Meet Butterball. No, not his real name, but with a name like Burton and an extra 75 some-odd pounds, sure doom would be met in the middle school locker room. Butterball isn’t your average middle school kid; he’s what one might refer to as an anger management problem no middle school principal wants to deal with. In 50 Cent’s YA novel, Playground, Butterball wants respect, he wants his mom and dad to resume an imperfect marriage to keep him happy, a reminder that he is a very young adult with center of the universe syndrome, and he wants to move back to the city, a city that he always describes as more exciting than its reality, but Butterball ‘can’t get no respect’, he cannot force his recently out of the closet mother to remain in a ‘straight marriage’, nor can he move back to the city from the ‘burbs’. This is quite a lot for our young anti-hero to deal with, so he does the only thing an anti-hero would do: he takes a sock full of batteries and pulverizes the only male student who showed him any kindness in his new school. Of course punishment is inevitable¬¬¬ enter Liz, middle-aged white social worker looking to make the world a better place. Butterball, in the way that most thugs and delinquents would react, only bares his soul after Liz is able to make a meaningful social-workery connection, thus providing a safe environment for Butterball to come to three realizations: he shouldn’t pick on someone smaller or bigger than himself, his mom is gay and no amount of pouting is going to change it, and he is never moving back to the trouble-filled metropolis.In the end, Butterball embraces his given name, thus shedding the baggage associated with it, and applies for entrance into a Creative Arts magnet school, courtesy of soul-saving social worker Liz. Burton, it appears is on the straight and narrow.In terms of complexity of plot, Playground is cliché. It seems as though the writer has followed a recipe with one secret ingredient: Take one angry, overweight city kid who mistakes respect with fear, place him in an unfamiliar setting [a safe environment], then make him beat someone up, add in caring adults who only want the best for said bully, then have bully get a taste of his own medicine. Blend ingredients, and after 165 pages, make bully realize that violence is not the answer. Be sure to include a homosexual mother who will reveal her sexual identity to her family thus creating a deep level of angst for our young-anti-hero thus providing him with a reason to act out. Other than his secret ingredient, the story of the bully getting ‘schooled’ by another larger and faster than himself and then suddenly realizing that maybe he shouldn’t beat up those smaller than himself has been done before. The lack of emotional complexity in the character who has an epiphany moment and changes his entire perspective on how the world works and therefore how he should behave within it creates a shallow story line that is predictable, not to mention unbelievable.In terms of original, believable, relatable characters, this book provides none. Cringe-worthy character stereotypes are abundant: the angry young African American male who rages against the injustice of having to conform to a set of societal rules; the deadbeat African American dad who teaches his child that stealing is OK and intimidation and violence are ways to earn respect; the hard-working single African American mother trying to put herself through school, a roof over her and her child’s head, food on the table, and a better opportunity for her child who can never seem to get ahead; the bully’s target, a skinny book worm who could never have fought back against his attacker even if he had seen it coming; a Caucasian social worker, the benevolent problem solver, who sees nothing but potential in an African American violent juvenile. The characters are oversimplified, and end up reinforcing some of the uncomfortable beliefs about race that books by influential cultural icons should seek to debunk.As far as protagonists are concerned, while Butterball is a stereotype he is also completely unlikable from beginning to the end. He is a character worthy of being despised and does not redeem himself throughout the course of the novel. Yes, he is an adolescent who should have some level of naiveté, but the assumption of a certain level of innocence in a young adult character does not make the reader feel empathetic towards this particular youth. Butterball is not a character most readers can identify with and many will find his faulty reasoning and his lack of change at the end of the book unsettling. If we are to become invested in a story, we must feel like that if the protagonist is unlikable, something will happen that changes our perception of him. I do not want to ‘walk’ with Butterball. He is repulsive in his desire to hurt others emotionally and harm others physically because he desires respect, which he never actually realizes is not respect, but fear that causes people to move out of his way. Even after he himself is physically attacked and hurt, I cheer for the Terrence , Butterball’s intended target, because Butterball had it coming. The fact that Butterball is left alone and in pain, strikes no chord of sympathy in the reader. Even after he is assaulted, Butterball only shallowly understands the meaning of what he did to his own victim, Maurice. We want Butterball to apologize, to make amends, to understand how awful his actions were, but he does not. Instead, he is rewarded with an application to a school where he will be able to pursue his filming passion. How can the reader be happy for this outcome, when he has not done what a protagonist must do: leave a reader feeling satisfied?50 Cent wrote this loosely autobiographical book for his son, and in doing so, identified his audience as the YA set. Being well-aware of this age group, messages should be carefully crafted to leave the reader with something to think about long after the book is shelved. 50 Cent addresses bullying first and foremost in his novel. Considering there is very little consequence for Butterball after seriously injuring another student, very little remorse on his part for what he had done, and so little character change in terms of understanding the effects of his behavior on others, we can loosely construe the message that while bullying is problem, there are little protections available for those who are bullied. And even worse, let the bully be rewarded by potentially being accepted into a fantastic program for gifted students. The lack of empathy and remorse Butterball has is frightening; his lack of redemption unsettling. Sure, Butterball has one moment of tears on Liz’s couch, but that is the extent of his change. 50 Cent’s message is not only superficial and unrealistic, it is also dangerous. The author’s attitude towards the subject is nothing less than cold as he clearly sympathizes with the offender and not the victims- perhaps an unwittingly revealed insight into the rapper and his profanity riddled, misogynistic, violent music.Some readers may find the graphics included within the pages to be entertaining. They are doodles at best, and do little to lighten the reader’s burden. The profanity in the book seems cleansed; it is neither hard core, nor moderately toned down probably because publishers were aware of the target audience and would not be able to market a book without white-washing it. The writing cannot be described as excellent in terms of its complexity in syntax, structure, or semantics. Dialect may be slightly representative of an inner-city speech pattern, but the protagonist does not stay true to the dialect outside of his old neighborhood, nor does his mother emulate any of the dialect causing the reader to wonder where and when Butterball would have developed and learned to modify his semi-inner city slang speech patterns. Again, the idea of editorial ‘language cleansing’ is apparent.Overall, I would find say that this book is a rather un-notable contribution to the YA genre. One of the more significant points where this book misses the mark, is that the protagonist should be free from adult moralizing. Butterball makes all of his decisions knowing full-well what he adult world expects of him, ethically (his mom, Liz) and unethically (his dad). He weighs his decisions against adult expectations, defying his mom because he is angry with her decisions and giving into the stereotypical decisions of an African American thug/father figure. Secondly, 50 Cent could have contributed a valuable insight into African American culture, but instead he reinforces stereotypes. As a cultural icon. 50 Cent has credibility. We can all surmise what his struggles were growing up. 50 Cent in his own life found success, probably through some hard learned lessons, yet, when he had a chance to create a character that embodied a positive message, he created one that ‘found an easy way out’ and never had to really own up to his mistakes. Perhaps if Butterball had been portrayed as an individual character not-so-gracefully facing pressures outside of his control, who makes a mistake and finds solace and redemption in a unique skill or passion which is then used to find forgiveness, the reader would find the book more believable or relatable. Additionally, while the book deals with contemporary issues, it does not do so in what could be called a responsible manner. Consequences for bullying should be faced, redemption found, and an understanding of the long reaching effects of one’s actions should be realized- none of which happen in Playground. As a result, the reader is left with a sense of hopelessness instead of hope. Alas, this is not the story told. In all honesty, if the Playground had been written under a pseudonym or by another author, I highly doubt it would have made it past the editor’s slush pile. But since it has, this story may be a good comparison point for other books that deal with bullying such as Wonder by Patricia Palaccio, Buddha Boy by Kathe Koja, Everyone Sees the Ants by AS King, Send by Patty Blount, and The Skin I’m In by Sharon Flake. It may also be a good entry point to books for reluctant readers, but I would caution that this novel not be given to any child who as ever suffered at the hands of a bully lest the emotional damage already inflicted on the child me magnified. less

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