Response [Hardcover]

Paul Volponi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 19, 2009

Noah and his friends go to a predominantly white neighborhood with a plan: steal a car, sell it to a chop shop, and make some fast cash. But that never happens. Instead, Noah, a teen father, is the victim of a vicious beating that leaves him with a fractured skull. Was the attacker just protecting his turf, or did he assault Noah because he?s black? Awardwinning author Paul Volponi, known for his brutally honest portrayals of the moral complexities of urban life, uses alternating perspective to give readers a fascinating and chilling insight into the minds of those on both sides of a hate crime.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6–10—Seventeen-year-old Noah and his two buddies go to an Italian-American neighborhood, intent on stealing a car to sell for parts. Instead, some thugs target the African-American teens and beat Noah's head in with a baseball bat. The unrepentant bat wielder, Charlie Scaturro, and his cohorts are charged with a hate crime. His cousin Spenelli confesses and the third boy, the son of a police officer, testifies to avoid prosecution. At Noah's mostly black school, white kids wear "Free Spenelli" T-shirts and the gym teacher is a vicious, obvious bigot. All of the basher's Italian-American friends and family are unabashedly racist. Volponi presents Noah's life as a student, son, and teen father simply though not simplistically. The dialogue between the protagonist and his buddies and family is occasionally precious, but mostly natural. Volponi interjects film-script dialogue of events in prison, and in Charlie's head. Though these episodes highlight Charlie's narcissism, they detract from the (mildly) suspenseful mood and slow the pace of the narrative. The racism in this town is so vicious and public, so over-the-top that it's hard to see the white, mostly Italian Americans as anything but caricatures. Though it's certainly easy to believe the events of this story, Volponi's portrayal is never wholly convincing.—Johanna Lewis, New York Public Library
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From Booklist

“All I’d really ever done with my life is get a girl pregnant, and made the news for thinking about swiping a car and getting my ass whipped with a baseball bat.” So says 17-year-old Noah Jackson, ruminating on his existence after being viciously pummeled by three Italian American kids. Because the attack seems to be based on Noah’s skin color, it is being prosecuted as a hate crime, and suddenly Noah finds himself a local celebrity. Fame is less fun than it sounds—kids start wearing “Free Spenelli” (the name of one of the jailed attackers) T-shirts to school, the media is pressing him for statements about white people, and his attorneys are making him nervous about the trial. Writing in an authentic voice, Volponi balances sensitivity and rage, but his most subtle achievement is the multi-generational family drama. When Noah suddenly feels the promise of his future at the exact moment he stands at his go-nowhere fry cook job, it gives us hope that he will pass on his hard lessons to his own child. Grades 6-9. --Daniel Kraus

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Viking Juvenile; 1 edition (February 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670062839
• ISBN-13: 978-0670062836
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,277,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, August 12, 2009

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Response (Hardcover)

Noah has grown up in East Franklin, a predominately black area. One night when he and two friends decide to head on over to nearby Hillsboro (about 95% white) to boost a car, life changes dramatically.

The three friends never get to commit their intended crime because they run into three white teens bent on keeping their neighborhood free of blacks. The white boys verbally abuse and threaten Noah and his friends, and it's when they begin to chase them that things take a turn. Noah trips and falls. An angry youth nicknamed Scat swings a baseball bat and fractures Noah's skull.

The quick response of paramedics and the quality treatment at the Hillsboro hospital work together to save young Noah. He's plagued with headaches and will live with a metal plate stitched into his head, but he will live to finish high school and be around to be a father for his baby daughter.

When it was determined that the three Hillsboro teens had no way of knowing Noah and his friends were there to steal a car, arrests were made and the three were charged with a hate crime. The actual attack was horrific, but now Noah and his family must live through the stressful experience of a trial. They learn the hard way about harassment and plea bargains as they attend countless meetings with county provided attorneys.

Paul Volponi brings headline material to life in RESPONSE. He portrays a black family working together to educate their son and help him and his teenage girlfriend raise their own child. In Noah, readers will meet a frightened yet determined young man learning how to make his way in a not-so-friendly world.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

4.0 out of 5 stars Hate Crime as Morality Tale, August 23, 2011

By 

Ken C. (MA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Response (Paperback)

At 145 pp. with large font, RESPONSE can be consumed in one sitting, if you have an afternoon handy. Given its short span, Paul Volponi's book manages to flesh out a few characters into gray areas where black vs. white becomes realistic. He succeeds not only with a few of the major characters, like Noah Jackson, a teen dad, but with a few minor ones, like his gym teacher, Mr. Hendricks.

The tale centers on a hate crime that occurs when Noah and two friends go into a white neighborhood with a Lexus in mind and instead get attacked by three white kids. Only Noah is harmed in the attack, however, being pounded by a swearing hate machine with an aluminum baseball bat. All of this goes down in the first few pages. From there, the book explores reactions in both the white and black neighborhoods, all the way up to the trial of the white guy who attacked Noah.

There's no doubt that the book will engage young readers, but prospective buyers -- especially for classroom libraries or school libraries -- should know that the School Library Journal's label of "Grade 6 to 10" is questionable. Parts of the book contain heavy profanity and, in the prison scenes specifically, graphic allusions to life behind bars. I would say Grade 9 is about as early as you'd want to go for a mass audience, but this is only if buying for a group. Individually, mature younger readers may be fine in handling such difficult fare. In those cases, you should know that the harsh realities presented in this book at least come with a moral foundation that is meaningful and, in the end, instructive in a positive way.

5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful YA novel that will open eyes to race relations in our nation!, May 31, 2010

By 

Milw. Writer (Milwaukee, WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Response (Hardcover)

Paul Volponi's book RESPONSE was a 2010 Milwaukee County Teen Book Award Honor book so I was immediately intrigued. What was so powerful about this novel was the honest portrayal of racial relations, especially among teens in this nation. It's a tremendous eye-opener and an important read. As a teacher I know our high schools introduce teens to fantastic American Lit, but I would love to see an elective course in high schools on MODERN American Lit - works that have come out in the last ten years. This would be one to have on the reading list!