Handbook for Boys : A Novel (Amistad)

Rating:
Summary: handbook for boys
Review: Handbook for Boys by Walter Dean Meyers is about making the right choices in life. I liked this book because it really makes you think about how you want to end up in your how life. The guys in the barbershop really give out some great information and advice to this lost teen. Because of what they tell him he makes better choices in his life. Since I read this book some troubles that Jimmy where faced with have also come up in my life and I can say that because I have had supportive parents and people to support me like Jimmy did I have made the correct choice. I have not read any other books but Meyers, but I really have in interest to read his book called Monster that was recently made into a movie.

Rating:
Summary: Handbook for Boys
Review: Handbook for Boys by Walter Dean Meyers is about making the right choices in life. I liked this book because it really makes you think about how you want to end up in your how life. The guys in the barbershop really give out some great information and advice to this lost teen. Because of what they tell him he makes better choices in his life. Since I read this book some troubles that Jimmy where faced with have also come up in my life and I can say that because I have had supportive parents and people to support me like Jimmy did I have made the correct choice. I have not read any other books but Meyers, but I really have in interest to read his book called Monster that was recently made into a movie.

Rating:
Summary: not a novel, but a self-help book
Review: I bought this book because I had loved Myers' previous work, "Monster." However, I was rather disappointed by "Handbook for Boys"' lack of storyline. The stuff Duke talks about is all true and good, and Jimmy seems to accept and understand all of this. But almost nowhere in the book do we see Jimmy actually applying this newly acquired wisdom. And you never get to figure out how exactly Duke, Cap, and Mr. M got that smart in the first place! It would've been nice if Mr. Myers had given some background on Duke's life at least. All in all, "Handbook for Boys" is more of a self-help book for teens (not just boys, either), than an actual novel.

Rating:
Summary: handbook for boys
Review: I liked the book. The book was good cause it gave alot of information about people and what they should do to do better in thier life in the future.The best part of the book was when people got into trouble and then Duke would talk to the boys and ask them how they could have changed the sitution. There was lots of characters. There was Jimmy (he worked for Duke) Duke, Cap, Mister M., and Kevin. The resolution of the book is hard to understand. Kevin got in to trouble and had to go to jail. Duke hired a new boy to work for him. Jimmy told the boy to listen to them in there it could help it in your life.

Rating:
Summary: A great book for kids and adults to read together
Review: Sixteen-year-old Jimmy Lynch has a choice to make: go to jail for six months or join Duke Wilson's community mentoring program. Thinking he got off easy, Jimmy goes to Duke's barber shop every day after school, where life is anything but easy. A steady stream of various characters provide a colorful backdrop of lessons to be learned. Duke, Cap, and Mr. M provide a daily barage of advice and stories for both Jimmy and Kevin, another student in need of mentoring. Jimmy thinks the old men are anything but helpful, until he finally begins to understand the purpose of their comments and the depth of their wisdom. When Kevin falls back into trouble Jimmy has a choice to make, one that he knows can affect his life forever. Like Duke says, Jimmy knows what the right thing to do is. Doing it is different, though.
Myers' book is a quick and lively read that helps young readers see the necessity of living life as a participant, not a spectator. The "mentors" encourage the teens to be in charge of their own destiny, and to not be a victim, like many of the people they see in their neighborhood. I highly recommend this book for both teens and adults, especially to be read together.

Rating:
Summary: Read this now
Review: This book by the renowned Walter Dean Myers is aptly named. It is not so much a work of fiction as it is a guide to those young men who must navigate the rough shoals of life as an African-American male teenager. This is a book with a mission to instruct and entertain, but, primarily, instruct. If you object to didacticism in fiction, this is not the book for you. But if you think this is an important message--I think it is--then you must admire Myers' craft in making it much more than a tract.

Rating:
Summary: A book to teach and entertain
Review: This book by the renowned Walter Dean Myers is aptly named. It is not so much a work of fiction as it is a guide to those young men who must navigate the rough shoals of life as an African-American male teenager. This is a book with a mission to instruct and entertain, but, primarily, instruct. If you object to didacticism in fiction, this is not the book for you. But if you think this is an important message--I think it is--then you must admire Myers' craft in making it much more than a tract.