title: Pay It Forward
author: Catherine Ryan Hyde
pages: 311
genre: fiction
published: 1999
first line: Maybe someday I'll have kids of my own.
rated: 4 1/2 out of 5
Twelve year old Trevor McKinney receives an extra credit class assignment from his social studies teacher, Mr. Reuben St. Clair.
'Think of an idea for world change, and put it into action.'
Trevor comes up with an idea. Paying it forward. It's very simple, you think of three people, then do something good for these people, something big. In return for your favor, each of these three people then do something amazing for three other people. And so on and so forth....until it multiplies and there is so much more good in the world from people paying it forward.
'And yet at first people needed to know more. Somehow it was not enough that a boy barely in his teens was able to change the world. Somehow it had to be known why the world could change at just that moment, why it could not have changed a moment sooner, what Trevor brought to that moment, and why it was the very thing that moment required.'
Trevor's mom, Arlene is raising Trevor by herself and working two jobs to pay the bills. Trevor ends up wanting to get Arlene and Reuben together. Arlene & Reuben are opposites, he is an educated black man who was injured in Vietnam, half of his face is scarred badly. Arlene is a recovering alcoholic and she feels that she is not good enough for Reuben. Yet the two of them form a bond.
Trevor thinks his idea of paying it forward didn't work out, but little does he know, it's being called 'The Movement' and has been making a worldwide effect. Reporter Chris Chandler is trying to find the person who started The Movement, he is shocked when he finds out it was started by 12 year old Trevor as part of an extra credit assignment.
The storyline and the idea of 'Paying it Forward' grab you from the start. This is all about how just one person can truly make a difference.
The movie version 'Pay It Forward' stayed pretty true to the book. There were some differences between the two but I really enjoyed both. This book will be definitely be listed as one of my top favorite reads in 2008.
I posted about this book before, here.
In honor of Pay It Forward, I am holding a special prize drawing. As I posted before, it wouldn't be book related. So after thinking about what would be a good prize to post, besides a book, I came up with an idea.
As some of you may know, I crochet. It's my other obsession, besides reading. So, I am raffling off one of my hand crocheted scarves on my blog. I know, it's the middle of summer, but hey, the Fall weather will be here before you know it and this scarf will come in handy. It's very soft & warm, I promise.
Want a better chance of winning? Read on....
* To enter to win the scarf, just comment to this post.
* If you have a blog, post about this contest, leave me the link, and I will enter your name 2 extra times in the drawing.
* If you also blog about the book 'Pay It Forward', I'll enter your name 2 extra times in the drawing.
If you do all of the above, that's your name entered 5 times in the drawing.
* For every person you refer to my blog who mentions your name, I will enter you one extra time in the drawing per person referred (even if you yourself don't have a blog, email your friends and refer them that way). The person you refer, needs to tell me you referred by posting in the comments section.
I will draw the winning name on August 15th.
Good luck!
