Pay It Forward - Young Readers Edition
By: Catherine Ryan Hyde
For readers who dream of changing the world.
Kelly: ☻☻☻☻
Boy Reader: ☻☻☻
Boy Reader: ☻☻☻
When I read the original Pay It Forward, I immediately thought of Boy Reader. He would love the bigger concepts in the book, but it was way too gritty to be appropriate until he was a little older. Like in college.
So, when the Young Readers Edition came out, I snapped it up.
The grit is still there, just watered down, and it makes for a richly layered story. Trevor is a 12 year old boy with a barely-scraping-by single mom who makes poor choices in men. His favorite teacher at school poses the challenge, "Think of an idea for world change and put it into action." Trevor's concept? Do good deeds for three people, then those three people doing good deeds for three more, and, so on, until the world is a nicer place.
His good-deed-doing does not go well. The homeless man ends up in jail and won't see him, the cat lady dies, and his mom and teacher seem more inclined to fight than to fall in love. But the idea takes root and spreads through the country. We even learn how some of those original good deeds paid forward.
SPOILER ALERT: The ending had to be a real challenge, since, in the original version, Trevor dies. Most of the ending is in there, with a little tweak so that we leave Trevor stabbed and in the hospital. And we join his mother and teacher on a 'vigil', rather than a memorial service.
Boy Reader loved the way something small became something big. He didn't get hung up on some of the tougher issues. For example, it seemed natural to him that the cat lady died; she was really old. He was a little confused about the outcome, but, then, it is deliberately vague.
So, when the Young Readers Edition came out, I snapped it up.
The grit is still there, just watered down, and it makes for a richly layered story. Trevor is a 12 year old boy with a barely-scraping-by single mom who makes poor choices in men. His favorite teacher at school poses the challenge, "Think of an idea for world change and put it into action." Trevor's concept? Do good deeds for three people, then those three people doing good deeds for three more, and, so on, until the world is a nicer place.
His good-deed-doing does not go well. The homeless man ends up in jail and won't see him, the cat lady dies, and his mom and teacher seem more inclined to fight than to fall in love. But the idea takes root and spreads through the country. We even learn how some of those original good deeds paid forward.
SPOILER ALERT: The ending had to be a real challenge, since, in the original version, Trevor dies. Most of the ending is in there, with a little tweak so that we leave Trevor stabbed and in the hospital. And we join his mother and teacher on a 'vigil', rather than a memorial service.
Boy Reader loved the way something small became something big. He didn't get hung up on some of the tougher issues. For example, it seemed natural to him that the cat lady died; she was really old. He was a little confused about the outcome, but, then, it is deliberately vague.