Pay It Forward - Catherine Ryan Hyde

Trevor McKinney is 12 years old, in his first year of Junior High School and comes from what some may call a dysfunctional family. His father Ricky is a drunken low-life who has walked out on them, leaving his recovering alcoholic mother Arlene working two jobs to support them and cover the debts she has been saddled with. Trevor?s social studies teacher is also new to the school. Rueben St Clair is a badly scarred Vietnam veteran who has become a loner, almost a recluse because nobody can get past his disfigurement. He tells Trevor?s class that he?s setting them an optional assignment that will earn them extra grade credits - Think of an Idea that ...  Read the complete review

I actually bought this book as a gift for my dad to take on holiday. It was one of those presents you buy someone that you'd really like yourself ! So, after he came back from holiday and told me he'd really enjoyed it, and asked if I would like to read it, I just had to say yes, just to be polite, you know ... The plot basically involves a twelve year old boy whose class at school is set an extra assigment by their new English teacher Reuben to do something that can change the world. He decides on 'Pay it Forward', hence the title of the book. This involves one person (ie himself) doing a good deed for 3 people, then these 3 people not ...  Read the complete review

I was looking for something to read apart from my usual 'depressed thirtysomething living in London' novels and found 'Pay it Forward'. I had heard about it from some friends and saw it for just £4 so I decided to buy it. The story revolves around 12 year old Californian Trevor who is inspired when he meets Rueben, his new English teacher, a permanently scarred Vietnam veteran. Reuben sets the class the assignment where they simply have to change the world. Trevor is one of the few in his class who puts any thought into the project and comes up with ‘Pay if Forward’, an ingenious scheme were someone does three good deeds to three ...  Read the complete review