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aprater's review
3.0
I enjoyed the pretext and story line but there were a few places where the text felt disjointed and I went back to find out if I missed something only to find a brief explanation several pages after. This author has some exceptional stories to share, I wouldn't miss this one!
ms_aprilvincent's review
2.0
I've never met a Myers book that I didn't love, but this one just seems ... off ... to me.
I don't know what my problem with it is, exactly, but let me think it out:
1. The main character, Anthony "Spoon" Witherspoon is a black kid from Harlem with rich parents who send him to a Connecticut boarding school for his senior year.
I'm not crazy, right? But this is not Myers' typical protagonist. There's no motive given for Spoon leaving his regular school and going off to the fancy-pants new one. It's vaguely implied that his (possibly rich?) parents wanted it for him, but why hasn't he gone to boarding school his whole life then?
2. Spoon's girlfriend-back-home Gabi has to contend with a mom with cancer, a brother who's on the verge of joining a gang, a blind grandfather, oh, and her own heroin use.
That's a lot of stuff to throw into such a short story. Her climb onto the smack train seems to happen suddenly (do people just start with heroin? I don't know drug protocol), and apparently she started using because of stress. Again, I'm no expert, but don't people smoke pot for that?
3. While I certainly don't hate happy endings, this one seemed a little too Disney-princess for me.
Myers does leave the ending open, so you can draw your own conclusions about some things, but I think the denouement wasn't very realistic. Of course, maybe my opinion is influenced by my own unique interpretation of drug culture, which is entirely based upon three episodes of CSI and that episode of Diff'rent Strokes with Nancy Reagan.
What I did like is that Spoon is clearly caught between his two worlds, neither of which seems like home to him. His classmates at the boarding school are entitled and accustomed to luxury (which is another thing lacking explanation: Has Spoon's family always been rich? Or is this new money?) and his friends back home aren't as educationally ambitious as he is.
I think there's just too much crammed into the story, and that's what makes it seem less realistic.
I expected more.
I don't know what my problem with it is, exactly, but let me think it out:
1. The main character, Anthony "Spoon" Witherspoon is a black kid from Harlem with rich parents who send him to a Connecticut boarding school for his senior year.
I'm not crazy, right? But this is not Myers' typical protagonist. There's no motive given for Spoon leaving his regular school and going off to the fancy-pants new one. It's vaguely implied that his (possibly rich?) parents wanted it for him, but why hasn't he gone to boarding school his whole life then?
2. Spoon's girlfriend-back-home Gabi has to contend with a mom with cancer, a brother who's on the verge of joining a gang, a blind grandfather, oh, and her own heroin use.
That's a lot of stuff to throw into such a short story. Her climb onto the smack train seems to happen suddenly (do people just start with heroin? I don't know drug protocol), and apparently she started using because of stress. Again, I'm no expert, but don't people smoke pot for that?
3. While I certainly don't hate happy endings, this one seemed a little too Disney-princess for me.
Myers does leave the ending open, so you can draw your own conclusions about some things, but I think the denouement wasn't very realistic. Of course, maybe my opinion is influenced by my own unique interpretation of drug culture, which is entirely based upon three episodes of CSI and that episode of Diff'rent Strokes with Nancy Reagan.
What I did like is that Spoon is clearly caught between his two worlds, neither of which seems like home to him. His classmates at the boarding school are entitled and accustomed to luxury (which is another thing lacking explanation: Has Spoon's family always been rich? Or is this new money?) and his friends back home aren't as educationally ambitious as he is.
I think there's just too much crammed into the story, and that's what makes it seem less realistic.
I expected more.
williamsdebbied's review
3.0
Anthony "Spoon" Witherspoon, leaves Harlem to attend a year at prep school, hoping that he will be able to get into an Ivy League university. He misses his girlfriend, Gabriela, a Domincan girl and aspiring poets who plans to attend Columbia University.
At first they talk on the phone regularly, but when Gabi's phone is turned off, they can only communicate through letters. Gabi soon stops writing. Her mother is dying and she has dropped out of school to care for her grandfather. When Spoon comes home to Harlem at Christmas, Gabi is different, distant, and Spoon discovers that she has started using heroin (the beast).
Teens will be riveted by this tale of first love and many will relate to Spoon's observations about love, ethnicity, and the effect that drugs can have on everyone.
At first they talk on the phone regularly, but when Gabi's phone is turned off, they can only communicate through letters. Gabi soon stops writing. Her mother is dying and she has dropped out of school to care for her grandfather. When Spoon comes home to Harlem at Christmas, Gabi is different, distant, and Spoon discovers that she has started using heroin (the beast).
Teens will be riveted by this tale of first love and many will relate to Spoon's observations about love, ethnicity, and the effect that drugs can have on everyone.
inquiry_from_an_anti_library's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Anthony Witherspoon has been gone from his neighborhood for a few months due to school. When he comes back to the neighborhood, everything seems the same but somehow very different. Not much changed, yet everything seems to have changed. What’s more is that his girlfriend seems very different. Turns out that she started using drugs. Drugs, known in this book by the beast, got to her due to stress.
An eloquently written book that creates an understanding of drug usage and seeing from different perspectives. Drugs are never the answer to problems yet so many fall for them to seek relief or an escape. Different experiences shape the way reality is perceived, it is important to try and view the world from other people’s perspectives.
An eloquently written book that creates an understanding of drug usage and seeing from different perspectives. Drugs are never the answer to problems yet so many fall for them to seek relief or an escape. Different experiences shape the way reality is perceived, it is important to try and view the world from other people’s perspectives.
tsilverman's review
2.0
Meh. Every single conversation left something to be desired, namely more dialogue. No one responded to anything anyone said and just kept moving right along. There was no resolve for anything. I didn't care about a single character because there was just nothing about them that stood out.
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