Payback

Reader’s Journal # 3

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

I just finished reading Payback by Paul Langan.  I pick this book because it was the second part of The Bully, and I really liked the book The bully.  The genre of this book is realistic fiction because it’s not real but could happen.  The antagonist is Tyray Hobbs, the bully.  The protagonist is Darrel Mercer, the one getting bullied by Tyray.  And the supporting characters are Ms. Spencer (the school principal),  Rodney Banks (Tyray’s friend), Amberlynn Bailey (a girl Darrel likes), Lark Collins (a freshmen Tyray thought was cute), Harrold Davis (Darrel’s closest friend), Mr. Fitch (the history teacher), Kendra Wilson (a girl who used to like Tyray), Bones (a guy that used to hang out with Warren), Eddie Bryson and Len Stanley (met Tyray in middle school), Jaime Wills (Amberlynn’s friend), and Jupiter (the guy that sold the gun to Tyray).  This took place in California, during school in the morning and afternoon.  It was sunny and then at the end it was raining.  The conflict is that Tyray sees only one solution to his problem which is buying a gun to point in at Darrel.  He wants to do this because Darrel grabbed him and lifted him and then slammed him on the ground and Tyray landed on his left wrist and broke it.  The problem is internal and it is character vs. character.  I think the author felt bad for Tyray when everyone didn’t talk to him and said mean things like “I guess you’re not a big guy anymore, the must have shrunk!”  I felt happy when no one talked to Tyray cause that’s how Darrel felt before he slammed Tyray into the ground.  The theme is don’t do something to someone if you don’t want someone to do to you.  The moral is what ever goes around comes back.  The author’s point of view is first person.  The pattern of organization is cause  and effect.  The author’s purpose of writing this book is to entertain. 

First, Darrel breaks Tyray’s wrist and gets Tyray angry.  Then he decides to bring a gun.  He started spreading rumors about it.  And Ms. Spencer asked him if it was true that he had a gun.  Then he she Darrel on the street and starts to walk towards him but before he got to him he fell on his knees and shot the sky because Darrel saw him aim for himself and screamed no.  I can tell Tyray was surprised when he knew Darrel cared about him.  Then they walked home.

Two strategies I used while reading were skim and scanning, asking questions and predicting what was Tyray’s only solution.  Two strategies I used while reading were thinking if any of my questions were answered and summarizing every time before going to sleep.  Two strategies I used after reading were answering my questions and writing a reader’s journal. 

I would rate this book a 9, 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest.  I rated this book 9 and not 10 cause I sometimes got bored, but like two times only.

                                                                                                            Sincerely,

                                                                                    Your favorite student Erika Alban