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117th out of 124 books
—
129 voters
Playground
by
50 Cent,
Lizzi Akana
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...more
Liz tries to uncover what happened that day on the playground—a day that landed one kid in...more
Hardcover, 314 pages
Published
November 1st 2011
by Razorbill
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Dec 23, 2012
Sally Kruger
added it
Thirteen year old Butterball filled a sock full of batteries and beat up Maurice, and he the school is forcing him to see a therapist so they can get to the bottom of the attack.
When Butterball's mother decided to make a change in her life, she moved Butterball out of the city and away from his father. Now they are living in the suburbs, he's going to a crappy junior high school, and working at a hospital and going to nursing school.
Butterball is not fitting in well. Besides being the new kid,...more
When Butterball's mother decided to make a change in her life, she moved Butterball out of the city and away from his father. Now they are living in the suburbs, he's going to a crappy junior high school, and working at a hospital and going to nursing school.
Butterball is not fitting in well. Besides being the new kid,...more
I listen to his music, watch his movies and thought to myself, "Why not try one of 50 Cents books out?" So I picked up a copy, and right off the bat I got interested in it. I was reading and not even realizing how much time I spent in that book I got hooked fast. In my opinion the best part was when they were at the playground and "Buttetball" (the name he went as) pulled out a sock full of double A batteries and started smashing a kids face that was bullying him. Soon after that incident Butte...more
Read entire review on my blog http://onlectus.blogspot.com/2012/08/...
Did you know 50 Cent could write? Other than songs, that is. He wrote this novel loosely inspired by his adolescence and with his 14 year old son in mind.
I was very skeptical of this book and was surprised to find a very nicely, straight forward, touching and easy story to read; I was even more surprised when I found myself liking it! Because, yes, I liked it.
I’m not into stories of bullies with a big redemption at the end an...more
Did you know 50 Cent could write? Other than songs, that is. He wrote this novel loosely inspired by his adolescence and with his 14 year old son in mind.
I was very skeptical of this book and was surprised to find a very nicely, straight forward, touching and easy story to read; I was even more surprised when I found myself liking it! Because, yes, I liked it.
I’m not into stories of bullies with a big redemption at the end an...more
2 likes · like · see review
I admit I was skeptical about this book. I don't know a lot about 50 Cent as I'm honestly not a fan of rap music but for some reason, in my head, I didn't see him as an author. I hadn't read the back of the book before I started it, but when I completed it, I was pleasantly surprised to see this wasn't the first book by Curtis Jackson III (50 Cent) and that he had previously written two others. After completing Playground, I can assure you that I will be checking out his other books too. Playgro...more
Jun 09, 2012
Esther
added it
Playground is about a kid nick named Butterball because he is overweight. One day he gets tried of it and beats up his friend Maurice. This incident shocks his mom and the school. They force him to see a therapist. Being this "tuff" guy he is unwilling to talk to her. Slowly he sees that she isn't horrible and answers a few questions. One day while he was in her office her starts telling her more than he really wanted to. He starts to see that his problems are at home. His mom is never around an...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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This book was about a young teenager named Butterball. Buterball isn't the perfect teenager, he makes very por decisions. He fights because he has no other way to express his anger.Now, that Butterball goes to see a psycholgist his anger level has decreased and he's learning to control his anger. Butterball does what he sees others do that's why he acts like a tough kid all the time.
This book teaches you hoe to treat others the way youb want to be treated. If you want to be treated with respec...more
This book teaches you hoe to treat others the way youb want to be treated. If you want to be treated with respec...more
1 like · like · see review
I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it. The voice of the story is Butterball, a 13 year old overweight black kid who is just trying to fit in. He thinks his mother is selfish and only making decisions to better her life without any regard to his. He worships his dad who lives in the city and, unbeknownst to Butterball, is not the best dad.
After getting into a fight, Butterball has to see a therapist twice a week so he can resolve his issues. Butterball feels that "Old Liz" isn't hip e...more
After getting into a fight, Butterball has to see a therapist twice a week so he can resolve his issues. Butterball feels that "Old Liz" isn't hip e...more
When I was given the opportunity to possibly win a copy of this book I signed up only because I loved the premise of the book. I honestly knew nothing about the author except I believed he was a rapper. After getting the book and reading it I decided to look up the author. I read several articles on him and his reasons for writing the book. I could not say I expected him to say he was a bully at some point in his life as I knew nothing about him or his music. I was pleased to realize that the bo...more
Butterball is a bully who's kicking younger kids around to make himself feel like somebody. He thinks his bad behavior will get him respect. And when he bashes his ex-best friend with a sock full of batteries, he does seem to get respect . . . from kids at school, from other bullies and even from his mostly absentee father. But are those the people he wants respect from? What about the nice girl at school Nia or his hardworking mother? Butterball is at the crossroads and needs to decide what pat...more
I did not expect to like this book but it surprised me by being rather interesting. It deals with the creation of a bully and how sometimes the things that you think mean so much to everyone else really only mean something because you think it means something to other people. Your reputation is not really all you have and if it is all you care about then you will only hurt yourself.
The main character, Butterball, is not always purposefully malicious but he does not really understand the things t...more
The main character, Butterball, is not always purposefully malicious but he does not really understand the things t...more
am not too familiar with 50 Cent's music. I am pretty much dedicated to Tupac and Biggie and so I really have put them so high up on a musical pedastal that it is hard to have room for anyone else! I was very anxious to read Playground though, as it just looked so good and it was. I blew through the story of jr. high kid, Burton (Butterball) in no time. I don't think that there will be a sequel, but this was one of those books that when it is over, you are really wishing that you could find out...more
Playground is the story of "Butterball," an 8th grader who finds himself in counseling after attacking a fellow student with a sock full of batteries. As Butterball opens up to his counselor, we learn about his motives and his personal struggles dealing with a sometimes-available father who is a terrible role model and a mother who Butterball has a hard time seeing eye to eye with.
Despite the simple text, Butterball is a complex character who faces many of the struggles most middle schoolers enc...more
Despite the simple text, Butterball is a complex character who faces many of the struggles most middle schoolers enc...more
In the beginning of the book playground by Curtis Jackson III(50 cent) a kid nicknamed Butterball takes a sock of batteries and hits a kid named Maurice in the face. I was scared at this point in the book because that could really hurt someone. This really effects him because now his mom doesn't trust him. He doesn't like being with his mom in Garden city so all week Butterball looks forward to going to the city with his dad. However, one week Butterball is doing good with his counselor Liz and...more
This is not 50 Cent's first book, but it was the first one I'd heard about and the plot sounded good enough that I decided I had to read it, if not just to see what 50 Cent might write about. The first half of the book had me kind of on edge - I wasn't sure if I was liking it - but by the end of the book I found I'd really enjoy it. Not too many people can make me feel sympathy for a bully, and yet I had some for Butterball.
An interesting plot point, which I don't want to ruin for you, is the re...more
An interesting plot point, which I don't want to ruin for you, is the re...more
I think the book Playground by 50 Cent, a.k.a, Curtis Jackson is a good book. I think it portrays the inner city life and how it effects childhood very well, probably because the author had it happen to him firsthand. I think it was a good book because it showed all the problems and self made accomplishments that a boy of that age would have, such as earning money and girl problems. I think the character Butterball has some very different emotions that change like the wind throughout the whole...more
Playground is Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s debut young adult novel about teen bullying. He explores this topical issue by sharing some of his own experiences in this fictionalized story. He hopes to reach out to kids to show how bullies are created and that there is hope to overcome it. As a parent, I’m very interested in this topic and was curious to read a story written from the bully’s perspective as a fresh change of pace.
The story is narrated by thirteen-year-old Butterball, nicknamed because...more
The story is narrated by thirteen-year-old Butterball, nicknamed because...more
Butterball is thirteen, overweight, and in big trouble. He viciously attacked Maurice on the playground at school and now he has to talk to some therapist, as if that’s going to help him? He knows if he could just get away from Long Island and move back to the city, where his dad still lives, everything would be great. Through flashbacks and therapy sessions, we gradually unpeel the many layers of Butterball’s story. The cover bills this novel as “The mostly true story of a former bully”--and wa...more
50 Cent has written a winner; Playground looks at how an urban teen boy reacts to the divorce of his parents, being overweight, and wanting to fit in. This story is told through the eyes and words of Butterball, who is a bully. After beating a former friend with a sock filled with batteries, he must attend counseling sessions. Adverse to talking about what happened, Butterball initially doesn't seem to get much from the sessions but he gradually opens up. Wanting to please his dad, his mom, and...more
I'm embarrassed by how quickly I got hooked on this book. Playground is the story of a troubled outcast who, through an act of violence, goes from being a school-nobody to the school bully. Told from a first-person perspective, this story uses Butterball's sessions with his therapist as the starting point for his tangential descriptions of his life. While he faces the challenges that many middle school students tackle--feeling left out, poor self-image, peer pressure and popularity struggles--hi...more
Playground is the somewhat true story about 50 Cent's childhood. The main character's name is Butterball, he is an overweight 13 year old that lives in New York City. Butterball is teased for his weight, he feels out of place and does not seem to have many friends at his junior high school. Being treated like this eventually turns Butterball into a bully and he brutally beats one of his only friends. He now has to deal with a new role of "bully" at school and he tries to change what people see h...more
Lad mig starte med at sige, at jeg var utrolig skeptisk med denne bog. For det første er det ikke en genre jeg normalt læse, men jeg er altid åben for nye ting. Men min nysgerrighed blev vagt da jeg så at 50 Cent var forfatteren. Jeg tror at alle har hørt om 50 Cent, nok ikke som forfatter men som rapper. Min første tanke var, kan han skrive?
Historien er inspireret af 50 Cent’s egen hårde barndom i ghettoen, og om hvordan gruppepres og mobning kan påvirke et barn.
Selve sproget er ikke det mest i...more
Historien er inspireret af 50 Cent’s egen hårde barndom i ghettoen, og om hvordan gruppepres og mobning kan påvirke et barn.
Selve sproget er ikke det mest i...more
It's a story about a boy called butterball. He goes through bulling being bullied & the bullyer. Kids call him fatass. What happends in the book is the closes things to real life. I think it's the best book I've read yet. It shows what kids go through in school and home.
The book overall is great. It explains real life situations. Some people don't even know what's going on. The thing that showed what butterball was feeling. The fact that it was written by Curtis "50 cent" Jackson made it a...more
The book overall is great. It explains real life situations. Some people don't even know what's going on. The thing that showed what butterball was feeling. The fact that it was written by Curtis "50 cent" Jackson made it a...more
This book was pretty good. I liked because the book was written by 50 Cent. This book teaches kids that bullying verbally or physically can really change a person. For example Butterball the main character changed throughout the story once he knew how others felt when he bullied them. This book teaches you that you should be kind to everyone and not pick an odd person out and tease or mess with them. I think everyone should read this book, to learn about bullying. It may not sound fun to learn w...more
I chose this book mainly because it was written by 50 Cent, who is a famous rapper. The book is about how an overweight African-American boy who goes by Butterball struggles with his parents not loving him and the fact that he assaulted a boy with a sock full of D batteries. He is forced into therapy where his therapist tries to uncover what happened on that fateful day on the playground. "Everyone gathered around me to admire my Foamposites; a couple of guys even got up to inspect them up close...more
Ugh. I know that this book will appeal to certain readers. And I know that those are the readers that need more books to appeal to them. But... Well, the book is just so... ugh. But my criticisms of it come from such an old-white-lady perspective. I was annoyed by the fact that his father stole shoes and there was no consequence. I was annoyed that Butterball's "growth" was when he stood up for a little kid by menacing another kid. I was annoyed that the illustration on the cover was of the cele...more
When I got offered a review copy of this book, I was a little skeptical about it, but I decided to give it a chance. When I actually read it, I was very pleasantly surprised about how interesting and well written the book was. In fact, I ended up reading the book in a single day because I couldn't put it down.
The cover of the book was not one of my favourite aspects of the book. My biggest complaint was that 50 Cent's name was larger than the title. I do however, like the way the colours were in...more
The cover of the book was not one of my favourite aspects of the book. My biggest complaint was that 50 Cent's name was larger than the title. I do however, like the way the colours were in...more
What makes a kid turn into a bully? There is not one easy answer to that question and 50 Cent does a good job showing us the mind of Butterball, his 13-year-old protagonist. B-Ball is a confused young man, trying to find his way through difficult situations with very little help. Very little, that is, until he smashes his ex-best-friend in the face with a sock full of batteries and is forced to go to counseling. It's not like his life gets instantly better, but slowly he figures out how to deal...more
I got an ARC (advance reader's copy) of this book in mid-2011, based on how long it took me to actually read it you can probably gather that I wasn't all that psyched about reading rapper 50 Cent's literary efforts. However, I was quite pleasantly surprised once I did start the book. Playground is the story of an overweight 8th grader named Butterball who assaults a friend and is required to go into counseling. In the course of his 8th grade year, he faces many changes and challenges but undergo...more
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book by hip-hop star 50 Cent. It is mostly based on his own life experiences but he also takes some artistic license as an author. It is the tale of 13-year-old Butterball who really doesn't have much going for him. He's overweight. He's currently living in the suburbs with his mom. He misses his dad and living in New York City. When Butterball beats up a kid on the playground one day, he is forced to go talk to a counselor twice a week. An i...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little Falls High...: Playground | 5 | 12 | Jan 20, 2013 08:53am |
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“I'm a trackstar running through life, chasing my dream"50 Cent”
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Apr 22, 2013 06:41pm