I will be honest, when I saw this novel I was all prepared to hate it. I can say, however, that I am really glad I gave this novel a chance. It is a story that takes a look into what factors may motivate a kid to bully another one. Three factors that we see most clearly in this novel is first the culture of violence as an acceptable part of manhood. Burton, known as "Butterball," socks a kid in the mouth with a sock full of batteries on the playground one day. This immediately gains him access into the "cool" circle of athletic boys. This leads into the second factor, Butterball is really self conscious about his weight, and the attention that he gains from the cool boys boosters his confidence. Thirdly, it has been two years since Butterball's parents have split up. His mother is busy working and and studying to be a nurse, and his father is busy with other women. I think it is pretty significant that the only family time he gets from either parent is surrounding his bad behavior. His mom takes off work briefly, and he gets a compliment on being a "man" from his father. 50 Cent, or Curtis Jackson III, makes a wonderful splash into Young Adult literature with this novel. Any twelve year old boy (and up)can relate to Butterball as a character, the fact that some of these events come out of 50's own life will also make this a rather appealing text. Curtis Jackson, or more commonly known as 50 Cent’s purpose in writing his book, Playground, is to share his personal experiences in his adolescence stage of life. 50 Cent shows through this novel that it’s possible to make it out of the hood or the ghetto and become successful in life. This book gives you an insight to 50 Cent’s troubled teen years. Playground gives hope to all the readers that no matter how much people discourage you, whether it be friends or family, never give up on your dreams. There are a lot books that write about a young African American’s journey out of the projects but Playground will be one of the more memorable ones. This book was well written. The story is easy to follow and has many different sentence structures. Playground teaches the audience that bullies often have bullies of their own. 50 Cent also touches some of the issues that teens have like self-esteem, weight, identity, money, anger, girls, friendship, and more. For example, 50 Cent aka “Butterball” is having weight problems, “the only reason nobody respects me is because I’m fat” (Jackson 117). For a teenager the entire book is relatable. Playground is as captivating as a book can get. I’m rarely interested in the books that I read but this one was especially captivating. The story keeps you one the edge of your seat waiting to find out what Butterball will get into next. You can easily relate to the main character of the story as he makes all the boneheaded decisions you made as in middle school, like “I wrote on all over my arm with what I thought was a marker but it turned out to be a sharpie” (Jackson 19). 50 Cent will have you laughing throughout the whole book. One of the many strength of the book, Playground, is that by the end of the book you feel like you Butterball is someone you actually know. Throughout the book you really start feeling for the main character. The fact that the book was extremely relatable made it that much better. One of the weaknesses that I noticed is that the book really gives out too much detail on unimportant facts that aren’t relevant to the story. For example, “I left the house with my camera and recorded my shadow on my way to the park” (Jackson 53). He was heading to the park but the part with the camera is irrelevant, it’s almost like it’s there just take up lines on the page. I would definitely recommend this book to some of my friends. This is a book that most kids my age could relate to. This book is easy to read but will introduce you to some works you may not know. Overall this was a great book and I think you should read it.
What do You think about Playground. 50 Cent (2011)?
I thought it was a good story and it was good background info about 50 cent.
—Rwgolfer24
Read half, not my kind of book, probably suit 18-21 year old better
—stephknight92
Hahaha I had to buy it, it was under 5$...
—Vickyvod
