“Don’t take my kindness for weakness”
This proverbial expression looms as an overall theme in Shawn Goodman’s soon-to-be-best-seller novel, Kindness For Weakness. The story follows fifteen-year-old James who, coming from an abusive household, desperately searches for what it means to be a man. Due to this, James ends up selling drugs for his macho brother, Louis, and undoubtedly ends up in one of the worst juvenile detention centers around.
Reading Kindness For Weakness was both a tiring and curious adventure. A tiring read because most of the time, I was bombarded with James’ constant depressing views of himself and a curious read because I was eager to see the aftermath of this disastrous situation James got himself into. However, the ending of this story left me feeling as if I were playing one of the most challenging video games I’ve ever come across and because of a glitch in the game, had to start over from square one. The whole novel is a flashback of how James got to be where he is and at the end of the book, leaves readers hanging by coming back from the flashback and going no where else.
What I particularly liked about Kindness For Weakness was the fact that the author used a lot of emotionally-charged phrases; when James is cornered by Antwon, one of the “baddest” guys in the center, who spits on him, he describes the glob of snot’s presence as if it’s “made of concentrated hate and it is burning through my clothes, seeping into my skin, contaminating me with rage.”
I also admired that the writer was conscious of the fact that millions of authors have already written books on teens who find themselves locked up in a juvenile detention center and decided to add a twist to his story by incorporating some of these novels into his own. These literary references (given to James as homework assignments from Mr. Pfeffer) are what guides most of James’ decisions and actions.
The book is mainly geared towards a male audience and could more than likely be labelled as a coming-of-age story. In sight of this, female readers might not be able to fully relate to the situations and scenarios in this novel. Yet, they can still get an in-depth look at the journey a boy takes in order to become a man.
Rating: 8/10
Book Info:
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Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (May 14, 2013)
Length: 272 pages (Hardcover)
Series: N/A
Source: ARC (Provided by publisher)
Genre: Contemporary YA, Violence
Completed: May 2013
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