Payback (Bluford High) [Library Binding]

Paul Langan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2007 | Series: Bluford High

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. Set in contemporary urban America, each novel addresses complex topics relevant to the lives of today's students. The books feature male and female characters and include elements from many literary genres, offering something for almost every reader.

--This text refers to an alternate Library Binding edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From day one, the Bluford books flew off my shelf like hot tamales. The kids would not put them down. -- M. Patano, Reading Teacher

When I finished these books, I went back to the beginning and read them all over again. -- Caren B., 9th grade student --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Library Binding: 123 pages
• Publisher: Fitzgerald Books (January 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1424221854
• ISBN-13: 978-1424221851
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

More About the Author

John Langan has taught reading and writing at Atlantic Cape Community College near Atlantic City, New Jersey, for over twenty-five years. The author of a popular series of college textbooks on both writing and reading, John enjoys the challenge of developing materials that teach skills in an especially clear and lively way. Before teaching, he earned advanced degrees in writing at Rutgers University and in reading at Rowan University. He also spent a year writing fiction that, he says, "is now at the back of a drawer waiting to be discovered and acclaimed posthumously."

While in school, he supported himself by working as a truck driver, a machinist, a battery assembler, a hospital attendant, and an apple packer. John now lives with his wife, Judith Nadell, near Philadelphia. In addition to his wife and Philly sports teams, his passions include reading and turning on nonreaders to the pleasure and power of books. Through Townsend Press, his educational publishing company, he has developed the nonprofit "Townsend Library"--a collection more than thirty new and classic stories that appeal to readers of any age.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Teacher's Perspective: The Gun, February 7, 2006

By 

Sarah Willey - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gun (Bluford High Series #6) (Paperback)

The Gun, by Paul Langan, Townsend Press, 2002, 123 pages, reading level 7.6, is a great book for high school reading students. My students who have read it have loved it! The Gun is part of a 10-book Bluford Series, which chronicles the lives of a group of 9th graders at Bluford High School. The books are of extremely high interest, but are still at their independent reading level. Best of all, if you buy from their website the books are only a $1 each (sorry amazon.com!)

In The Gun, a former bully Tyray Hobbs vows revenge after the "new kid" Darrell he used to torment defends himself and beats up Tyray in the lunchroom in front of the whole school. Faced with the torment of his peers, Tyray decides that the only way he can get back his reputation is to buy a gun and really show Darrell who is in charge. In attempting to purchase the gun and then deciding whether or not to use it, Tyray goes through a lot of emotional heartache and finally comes to terms with the boy he is and the man he wishes to become.

Overall, the book is great. When I brought in this book, my kids were practically fighting over who got to read it first! The issues discussed in the book are ones that my students are familiar with, making the novel both accessible and relevant to their lives. The only area for improvment could be at the introduction of the story, giving the reader a little more information about the main characters Darrell and Tyray. Because the book is part of the series, some deepened levels of theme comprehension depend on having read the books before it, which not all students will have done.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best for problems, April 6, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Gun (Bluford High Series #6) (Paperback)

When I read this book I never wanted to stop and put it down. This book taught me alot about life and when I was younger and I use to hurt people feelings and if it were done to me I would think how cruel. The bad thing was the people that hung out with me only did so I won't beat them up. Not only was I a bad influence on myself and really didn't care much for my self-esteem I effected all the other people around me and the environment. I treated my peers so wrong it's unbelievable now just to think what if they hurt themselves because they was always picked on and feel they had no use to be here. Or what if they be one of the people who grow up and decide to be a sniper or something for revenge?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Book That Makes You Want to Read More, November 21, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Gun (Bluford High Series #6) (Paperback)

I read The Gun by Paul Langen. The main characters in this book are Tyray, Darrell, Amberlynn, and Harold. I wanted to read this book because my teacher influenced me to read the whole series and said they were great books. In this book, Tyray gets mad and wants to shoot Darrell. Tyray gets the gun from Bones for $50. At the end, he does not shoot Darrell because they became associates. Young teenagers, mostly boys, would enjoy this book. The theme of the book is "what goes around comes around" because in the first book, The Bully, Tyray kept on bullying Darrell, and now in The Gun Darrell takes on Tyray's reputation.

In my opinion, The Gun expresses how young teens today live their life and how they act out so that makes it a good book. It can relate to teens today. One of my favorite parts in the book was when Tyray first got the gun from Bones because it would

leave you in suspense not knowing what would happen next. The second part I really like was when Tyray hears from his brother Warren in a letter, I think that was a good part also because Tyray was sad because he hadn't heard from his brother in a long time.. I don't think the book had any weak parts because it all relates to one thing.

My overall opinion of The Gun was great and it influencing me to read all of the Bluford Series to actually understand them all as one. I do recommend this book because it tells about a today's teen life.

Hasan C.