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52nd out of 323 books
—
236 voters
The Death of Jayson Porter
by
Jaime Adoff
Sixteen-year-old Jayson Porter wants to believe things will get better. But the harsh realities of his life never seem to change. Living in the inland-Florida projects with his abusive mother, he tries unsuccessfully to fit in at his predominately white school, while struggling to maintain even a thread of a relationship with his drug-addicted father. As the pressure mount...more
Hardcover, 272 pages
Published
April 29th 2008
by Jump At The Sun
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The Death of Jayson Porter is a book that took me way outside of my comfort zone. I don’t mean my reading comfort zone, I mean my human comfort zone. This is a YA novel that packs a significant punch.
Sixteen-year-old Jayson lives with his drug and alcohol addicted mother, Lizzie, in a high rise slum called Sunny Gardens in Bandon, Florida.
Sunny Gardens. The last stop for single moms and their messed-up kids. The last stop before the streets. Sunny Gardens, where the elevators are always broke –...more
Sixteen-year-old Jayson lives with his drug and alcohol addicted mother, Lizzie, in a high rise slum called Sunny Gardens in Bandon, Florida.
Sunny Gardens. The last stop for single moms and their messed-up kids. The last stop before the streets. Sunny Gardens, where the elevators are always broke –...more
"the death of Jayson Porter " by Jaime Adoff is a very dramatic novel because it talks about a teenager named jayson Porter who is just 16 years old but lives in a harsh life. An this is because his mother is a very abusive to him and was always hit him because his mother never liked him. He also tries to avoid his father because he is a bad addiction to drugs. Because of this problem their parents have, he is alone and all day out in the streets trying to earn a living with out no ones help. Ja...more
I almost want to give it five stars-- thinking about it now-- Jayson is bi-racial, living with his white, drunk, part-time hooker mom who has a penchant for beating him even though he's nearly sixteen years old. There's a hold she has on him with her mood swings, alcoholism, and love. He lives in the projects around gangsters and druggies and has a friendship with a co-worker and friend who lives across the way. Jayson has always though, thought about suicide.
Eventually, learning that this moth...more
Eventually, learning that this moth...more
This format of this book is touted as great for the reluctant reader, and I have to agree. While I prefer the "dense" format of traditional books, the set up of this book is akin to graphic novels.
It may seem a bit intimidating at first because it appears to be so thick, but don't let the size of the book fool you. If it were set up more like the regular book format, it would probably be little more than half the size it is now, and that's not that long.
The wording isn't cumbersome either, so...more
It may seem a bit intimidating at first because it appears to be so thick, but don't let the size of the book fool you. If it were set up more like the regular book format, it would probably be little more than half the size it is now, and that's not that long.
The wording isn't cumbersome either, so...more
Charmaine Branch
Book Review
The death of Jayson Porter by Jaime Adoff
The biggest problem in the book The death of Jayson Porter was that Jayson was contemplating on committing suicide.
Jayson Porter is an average teenager, but he isn’t handed the best life. He is abused by his mother. She always talks bad to him (put down), hits him, and curses him out. His mom was a well known prostitute his dad was his moms pimp. His dad is a drug addict/dealer. All his dad does is snort cocaine. He’s high...more
Book Review
The death of Jayson Porter by Jaime Adoff
The biggest problem in the book The death of Jayson Porter was that Jayson was contemplating on committing suicide.
Jayson Porter is an average teenager, but he isn’t handed the best life. He is abused by his mother. She always talks bad to him (put down), hits him, and curses him out. His mom was a well known prostitute his dad was his moms pimp. His dad is a drug addict/dealer. All his dad does is snort cocaine. He’s high...more
The Death of Jayson Porter by Jaimie Adoff is about a teenager named Jayson who lives in the so called Ghetto with his mom. His mother and him do not really have a good relationship at all, Jayson is abused by his mom and becomes suicidle by the end of the book. He does not really have anyone in his life that is a good example to him. Jayson never really wakes up in the morning and knows what will happen this day, he is hit with all new problems everyday weather him finding out about his mom isn...more
The title and cover picture on this book is what intrigued me to begin reading. This book was very different from most books i normally read,it contains sex, drugs, death etc. The main character, Jayson Porter lives with his abusive mother who treats him terribly and exposes him to her inappropriate life style without caring about how it affects him. From the beginning of the book and throughout, Jayson contemplates suicide because of the life he is forced to live.Though i am strongly against su...more
An inner city "novel in verse" in the very loosest sense, this book tells the story of a 16-year old bi-racial boy who lives with a drug and booze addicted and very abusive mother. Jayson doesn't fit in anywhere, and is already dangerously depressed when his only friend is in a horrible accident in a meth lab. Jayson jumps from a balcony at his housing project, and the story is told with the suicide first, then a section that leads up to the suicide, then the aftermath. I thought this book was a...more
The title was an instant draw. So many different question popped into my head that I wanted answered. Plus from what I was told about it it seemed very interesting. You don't often hear that kind of story in Young Adult literature.
I thought this book was pretty dang good. It's a little intense if you don't know how to handle that sort of stuff but oh my lanta. Very bold I think. Hard for an author to know if people will like it or be scared by it. However, it is relatable in so many different wa...more
I thought this book was pretty dang good. It's a little intense if you don't know how to handle that sort of stuff but oh my lanta. Very bold I think. Hard for an author to know if people will like it or be scared by it. However, it is relatable in so many different wa...more
Though I found this book relentlessly depressing, I think the teens that like the Pelzer books will be drawn to this in the same way. It's very readable,and very sad, with just the hope you want at the end.
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Great for a reluctant male teen reader. An edgy page turner told in free verse.
Jayson Porter lives in the projects with his alcoholic divorced mom, who physcially abuses him. As a teen, Jayson could easily fight back, but he's unwilling to strike his mother. Jayson's Dad is completely uninvolved in his life because he's addicted to drugs and living in one of the most dangerous housing projects. Jayson has no family member to turn to or to count on. Day by day, Jayson struggles with his situation...more
Jayson Porter lives in the projects with his alcoholic divorced mom, who physcially abuses him. As a teen, Jayson could easily fight back, but he's unwilling to strike his mother. Jayson's Dad is completely uninvolved in his life because he's addicted to drugs and living in one of the most dangerous housing projects. Jayson has no family member to turn to or to count on. Day by day, Jayson struggles with his situation...more
This was an awesome book but don't think it is for the middles school crowd more upper high school. It is about a 16 year boy living in the hood in Florida. Does not have a good life and is constantly thinking of committing suicide by jumping off a rail in his complex. His problems are his mom and dad who are into drugs and not holding down a job. Mom abuses him physically and mentally.This book is not likehisother book Jimi and Me. This one is a lot heavier in topic. Format is the same andthe f...more
Teens may identify with Jayson's feelings of being hopelessly trapped in a bad situation, but overall this book rang a bit false for me. Jayson is a good character and the despair that leads him to attempt suicide is real and convincing. However, the ending is way too deus ex machina and to me, offers no real hope. Warning for teachers and librarians, Jayson smokes weed, has sex, and swears. While the anti-drug message is pretty clear there's no condemnation of teenage sex, which might get some...more
Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com
Jayson Porter lives on the eighteenth floor of a rundown Florida apartment building with his abusive mother and whatever boyfriend she is currently entertaining. He is trying to hold down a part-time job and still keep up with his homework at the exclusive private school that has offered him a scholarship.
Each day as he walks along the railing outside his apartment, he considers how easy it would be to just end it all. He fantasizes...more
Jayson Porter lives on the eighteenth floor of a rundown Florida apartment building with his abusive mother and whatever boyfriend she is currently entertaining. He is trying to hold down a part-time job and still keep up with his homework at the exclusive private school that has offered him a scholarship.
Each day as he walks along the railing outside his apartment, he considers how easy it would be to just end it all. He fantasizes...more
Life is rough for Jayson. His mother is abusive, his best friend is struggling with life, and every time Jayson walks on his 18th floor balcony - he fantasizes about the release of jumping. How much can a person take before they do finally jump? Very realistic - very quick read and a little heart-wrenching (until the ending which is unbelievable givent the realism of the rest of the book)
When a book begins with the suicide of its 16-year-old protagonist, you know it's gonna be powerful. And it is. Son of an abusive white alcoholic prostitute and a black drug addict, he didn't have a whole lot easy in store for him. In fact, that railing and the fatal drop on the other side were the sweet reward that kept him going a lot of days. Written in a spare, profane, witty, absolutely spot-on kidspeak prose, this book dumps you into his head...and his troubles, touching along the way on w...more
This book was very exciting to read. This book could relate to someone in this world just like Jayson Porter. I didn't expect on how the story was going to end. I would recommend for everyone to read this book, once you open it, you wouldn't want to close it :). The title may give away the story, but you wouldn't have a idea of how the sotry would end !
Aug 19, 2009
Becky
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
high school and up
Shelves:
age-high-school,
urban-fiction
This was a fast, gritty read, almost written in verse, with lots of white space. Jayson, a bi-racial teen, lives in the inland Florida projects with his abusive mother. Adoff paints a harsh, vivid picture of the suffocating nature of poverty, and the vicious cycles that keep people there. Jayson clings to the "hope" that if things get too bad, he can always jump over the rail of his 7th-floor apartment building. In fact, this is what he has done on the very first page of the book.
The sentence t...more
The sentence t...more
What an intense book! Jayson has an extremely tough life - living in the ghetto, working to pay for rent and food, trying to make it one day at a time where he could get shot any minute. Not to mention his mom is a druggie and drunk and beats him. Then his dad tells him about his mom's true past with a secret that makes Jayson want to end it all.
This was a quick but very good book.
It is a poetic novel so it basically just tells you the important stuff and is a little raw which makes it that much more real.
An abusive mother.
A 16yo who dreams about committing suicide until it is no longer a dream.
A rough life in the projects.
A kidnapping.
I couldn't put this book down.
It is a poetic novel so it basically just tells you the important stuff and is a little raw which makes it that much more real.
An abusive mother.
A 16yo who dreams about committing suicide until it is no longer a dream.
A rough life in the projects.
A kidnapping.
I couldn't put this book down.
In the Florida projects, sixteen-year-old Jayson struggles with the harsh realities of his life including an abusive mother, a drug-addicted father, and not fitting in at school. He ultimately contemplates suicide. I'm considering adding this book to my curriculum to conincide with the poetry unit. If I don’t teach it, I'll shelf it.
Jayson writes in a stream-of-consciousness style, which would normally annoy me, but I got used to his rhythm pretty quickly and was very intrigued by his thought processes. I was rooting for Jayson throughout the novel, even when I knew it wouldn't help. The ending is a little too convenient for my liking, but I guess a completely depressing novel wouldn't sell as well. :)
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Did Jayson have a option? No he either was going to kill himself by throwing himself out of the 7th floor window to be happy with his friend or live with his fake mother who mistreated him everyday.At the end he did something he regretted but got what he finally wanted.
I felt like there was enough going on in the story without adding the "soap opera" type plot right near the end of the book. I liked the book fairly well until what seemed like a few pages from the end when way too many things get thrown into the mix.
Honestly, The Death of Jayson Porter was hard to read because of the format, not to mention the horrendous speech patterns. If only the author had chosen to either make it entirely ebonics or proper English, this would have been easier to read and remember.
this book is a good book this about a boy who lives in the project with his abussive mother and is mantaqin an unhealthy relationship with his drug adicted father this boy has an unhealy life because of were he lives and how his mom is treating him
A most depressing and compelling story about Jayson, who seems to slip further and further with every page. The style of writing is quite different but works all right for this setting. I didn't "enjoy" this book but I gained much from reading it. Good read.
Winner of the Teen Buckeye Book Award, this gritty novel starts out in the middle of the action: a boy in mid-leap from a balcony, attempting suicide. Then it jumps back to "before," as he tells of his troubled life with an abusive mother, his absent druggie father, and what leads him to the suicide attempt. My high school book club read this and most of them found it a really gripping read. The format put a few off, though: it's in free verse, sort of, with boldface "headlines" that are some of...more
Great book...love the way the story is told through the main character, Jayson. It's a glimpse in to a teen's life that you won't forget. The book is similar, but not the same, in style to Ellen Hopkin's stuff.
May 11, 2009
Krista the Krazy Kataloguer
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
read-ya,
read-novels-in-verse
I didn't think this poor kid would ever get a break! This is a grim story about a teenage boy whose life is in the relentless control of others who either abuse him or fail to understand him or get him the help he needs. Jayson sees his only way out to be a suicidal act which, ultimately, and surprisingly, leads to his release. I can't imagine living under the conditions he lives in, and yet, somehow, he has hope for something better and manages not to sink to the degenerate level of everyone el...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| Mrs. Gallagher's ...: Cameron's Novel in Verse | 1 | 5 | May 01, 2013 05:53pm |
Jaime Adoff was born in New York City but grew up in Yellow Springs, Ohio. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from Central State University in Ohio, where he studied drums and percussion. Moving to New York City in 1990, he attended the Manhattan School of Music and studied drums and voice. Jaime then went on to pursue a career in songwriting and fronted his own rock band for eight years. He r...more
More about Jaime Adoff...
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