PAY IT FORWARD: A Novel

by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Hardcover, 2000

Status

Available

Publication

Simon & Schuster (2000), Edition: First Edition, 288 pages

Description

Fiction. Literature. HTML:An immediate bestseller when first published, Pay It Forward captured hearts all over the world, became a wildly popular film, and spawned a generation of increased altruism. This anniversary edition includes a new introduction by the author. It takes an inspiring and moving tale of a young boy who believed in the power of kindness and brings it to a new generation of readers. Twelve-year-old Trevor McKinney accepts his social studies teacher's challenge: come up with a plan to change the world. His idea is simple: Do a good deed for three people and ask them to "pay it forward" to three others in need. He envisions a vast movement of kindness and goodwill spreading beyond his small California town and across the world. The project, however, appears to falter. Jerry, a bum who receives some allowance money from Trevor, returns to a life of dissolution. Trevor wants his pretty, hardworking motherâ??a woman who raised him lovingly despite struggles with alcoholismâ??to marry his teacher, Reuben St. Clair. Reuben is a scarred, bitter, untrusting man with a disfiguring injury from Vietnam. He seems to come alive only when in front of his class. For a time that matchmaking brings nothing but problems. Ultimately, though, unusual things start to happen. Crime rates dip across the nation, and nobody seems to know why. Then a journalist tracks down the source: an epidemic of random acts of kindness. Anyone who has ever despaired of one person's ability to effect change will rejoice in Trevor's courage and determination to see the good in eve… (more)

Rating

½ (241 ratings; 3.9)

User reviews

LibraryThing member cmbohn
Themes: helping others, race, family, change
Setting: California 1990s

Trevor is a 12 year old junior high student and nice kid. Arlene is his mother, a recovering alcoholic and single mom. Reuben is his teacher, a Vietnam vet with physical and emotional scars from the war. And Trevor has an idea
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that will change the world.

This book and the movie are pretty much a part of popular culture. The phrase "Pay it Forward" is common enough. But I hadn't ever read the book, so when I found it at the thrift store, I thought it looked like it was worth a try. I'm glad I picked it up.

The story is pretty straight forward. I haven't seen the movie, but I have to admit that I kept picturing Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment as Arlene and Trevor. But Reuben was nothing like Kevin Spacey, being a Black man who is missing an eye. I can see that the disfigurement would be hard to leave in the movie and make it convincing, but why did they change his race? That was an important part of the book.

As a story, I enjoyed it. As a believable recipe for social change, I'm not buying it. People are not that altruistic. It's too bad, but there it is. In the book, gang violence drops by 80%. In a book, that might work. In real life? No way. Still, it was a nice feel-good story. I'd call it a fantasy. 3.5 stars
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LibraryThing member larson23
"Pay It Forward" is a really good book. I absolutely loved it. I liked it so much, because it shows the good and the bad sides of human nature. It shows the good side, by having Trevor come up with the idea of "paying it forward" and helping people out in a big way to them and having them "pay it
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forward" to other people. It shows the bad side of human nature by having Jerry, the first person Trevor helps, go to jail as soon as Trevor gets him back on his feet. Another example of bad human nature, is at the end of the book. I will not tell what happens at the end, because I want people to read the book to find out what happens. The book has a depressing mood, throughout the book, which will explain itself when people read the book and get to the end. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves books to make you feel good, cause it does make you feel better about things.
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LibraryThing member CoverLoverBookReview
PAY IT FORWARD review, by Nic

Pay It Forward, by Catherine Ryan Hyde, is a feel good story with a lot of substance.

After being given a class assignment to find a way to change the world, 12 year-old Trevor McKinney creates the ingenious idea of ‘paying it forward’. He proposes that if he does
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good deeds for three people, and each of them does the same (and so forth) the world would most certainly change.

I like that this story isn’t saccharine-sweet. It shows the diverse problems of society as well as the good. I don’t want to give too much story-info that might affect the surprises, twists and turns; but make no mistake, they are there!

I rarely prefer a movie over a book, but in this case, I felt the movie was just a tad better.
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LibraryThing member 2wonderY
The movie was choppy. The book made the story flow much more smoothly. A great concept and well done.
LibraryThing member LittleBookSnob
The phrase "Pay it Forward" is common enough. But I hadn't ever read the book, so when I found it at the thrift store, I thought it looked like it was worth a try. I'm glad I picked it up.
LibraryThing member br14sogi
It only takes one person to change the world for the better. Anyone has the ability to make someone’s day better by even just saying one compliment; you just have to do it. But, it is not often that someone takes the initiative to start a trend that can go on forever. Often times when that one
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person does spread kindness, it usually stops because of interfacing with the wrong person. Pay It Forward, written by Catherine Ryan Hyde is a story depicting the life of a young boy, Trevor, and his action to pay forward his kindness, ultimately turning around human nature.

It all started when Trevor’s teacher, Reuben St. Claire, a Vietnam veteran, who only shows his true moral colors while in front of his middle school class, gave an assignment that would help change humanity for the better. His idea was simple; do a good deed for three people who are in need of help and then each pay it forward to three more people, teaching nine more. After a few short days of relaying the project, Trevor began to realize a conflict. He believed his project was only directed towards the dark side of living, and his kindness would only benefit people who were desperate. Trevor continued with the project trying to spread it even further than just within his small school, and then something miraculous happened that he never even imagined. But, with problems at home with his mother, he also continued to work towards his mother, and the rest of his family, to live by his words of wisdom to pay it forward, which was not an easy task for him alone. He needed more help than what he was able to offer.

Pay It Forward is a novel that will forever stay with you because of the unforgettable message given by just a young boy, ultimately proving nothing is impossible if you set your mind to something. Things may come of it that you never even imagined. Catherine Ryan Hyde used keen writing techniques, making you feel as if you were personally experiencing Trevor’s project and intent. Although each character had lively personalities, making the story easily relatable, once I reached the climax, there seemed to be too many minor characters that were only mentioned a couple of times, making me lose track of the main characters who played a significant role. Also, I felt there was a severe lack in detail in the plot itself, almost as if this story is not meant to be compelling, but more of an inspiration and feel good read. Overall, because of Pay It Forward’s moral excellence with minimal, imperative detail that I find to be essential in a story, I would give this story a three and a half stars out of a five star rating, simply because it was not the adventurous novel I was originally expecting.

Pay It Forward, written by Catherine Ryan Hyde is essentially a novel consisting of ordinary people whose lives were changed by the touch of child wanting to make a difference, inspiring readers to pay it forward. But, with a waning plot and limited detail, the story was not as powerful as I feel it had the ability to become. How will you follow Trevor’s message and pay it forward?
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LibraryThing member pussreboots
Save for the "hit you below the belt" ending, I would have giving this book a full five out of five. The ending was cheaply melodramatic and just there for shock value. I haven't seen the film though I know enough about it to say that the actors cast for the roles don't look anything like they're
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described in the book.
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LibraryThing member jlsimon7
So I saw this movie years ago. The book as so often is the case, far outstripped the movie. Things that took me by surprise included:

1. This book literally had me bust out laughing on more than one occasion. It was fantastic to have such sarcasm and wit mixed into a story I would consider a
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drama.

2. I didn't remember things from the movie that were present in the book, like the enormity of the project, how it had taken on a life of it's own, that by the narrator's introduction tells you has changed the world as we know it.

3. I do not remember Trevor meeting Bill Clinton in the movie. That was a fabulous addition to the story.

This book was such a great story because it is the ideal of what we could be if we as a society chose it. The ending is sad, but I would still strongly recommend this book for any audience 13 and up. It may not be appropriate for a younger audience because there are some items a parent would not want to have to explain. One example, to illustrate, includes a transsexual who experiences a great deal of violence.

If you have seen the movie, definitely get the book. It's worth every minute.
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LibraryThing member cln1812
It starts with a simple extra credit social studies assignment: Think of an idea that will change the world for the better and put it into practice. Reuben St. Clair, the social studies teacher, gives this assignment every year, and nothing remarkable has happened, until the assignment is put in
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the hands of one seemingly ordinary 12-year old boy, Trevor McKinney.

Trevor's idea for the assignment is that he will help three people in need. When those people ask how they can repay him, he will tell them to "Pay it forward" to three other people who need help. At first, it seems as if Trevor's assignment is a failure. He first decides to help a bum and drug addict by giving him his newspaper route, a clean shower, and some money. That man ends up violating his parole and going to jail. Next, Trevor helps Mrs. Greenberg, an elderly lady, by taking care of her garden. He is sure Mrs. Greenberg will pay it forward, but then she ends up dying. Last, Trevor decides to help his teacher, Mr. St. Clair by setting him up on a date with Trevor's mom, Arlene. Trevor knows his mother has plenty to offer the right man, but she always picks the wrong man. While sparks do fly between Reuben and Arlene, their relationship is volatile and seems destined to fail. Trevor feels his whole idea is a waste of time.

However, some of the people do go on to pay it forward, maybe not as Trevor had planned. The "Pay it forward" movement grows and spreads from his small California town to Los Angeles to across the country. Before Trevor knows it, he is invited to the White House to meet the President. In Washington D.C., Trevor endeavors to "pay it forward" one more time, with tragic consequences. His story, however, ends up touching the nation and ultimately the world.

I can't believe I haven't read this book sooner. This is one of those books you read that just stays with you. I liked how realistic the main characters felt, flaws and all. It is easy to become jaded. This book helps you remember that one person, one child, can make a big difference.

I think the idea of "paying it forward" has come a bit more into widespread practice, not as big as in this book, but just the other day, I drove up to a Starbucks window only to find the driver in front of me had paid for my drink on a particularly bad day. Small acts of kindness can make a huge difference in a person's life. The message of this book is heartwarming and inspiring.
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LibraryThing member IceQueenTN
This was such a heartwarming book, but so sad at the end. Most people have heard of the book or know about the movie, but you really have to read the words to truly get it.
LibraryThing member gypsysmom
Although I said in my first entry that I had seen the movie I must have been dreaming. Or maybe I saw previews for it and thought I had seen it because I would definitely say now that I have not seen the movie. One startling difference between the book and the movie is that in the book the teacher
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is black whereas in the movie I believe he was played by Kevin Spacey. It interesting that Hollywood would decide to change that. Did they think that the movie would not be accepted if the couple was of mixed race? I personally think it makes for an even more powerful story.

I enjoyed this book. I saw in the back that the author has started a foundation. So it seems like the concept is gathering a foothold.

I suppose Paying It Forward is no different than a lot of charitable works. Certainly I was brought up to believe that doing favours for others was rewarding enough and one should not expect repayment. But maybe in today's less altruistic world we need a reminder.
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LibraryThing member nicolewbrown
Arlene McKinney is a recovering alcoholic who works two jobs to make ends meet and to pay off a broken down truck that she co-signed with her boyfriend who disappeared and may be dead, but who likely isn't coming back. She has a thirteen-year-old son, Trevor by him. Trevor is a good kid who has a
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new social studies teacher at his school named Reuben St. Clair who was scarred physically by the Vietnam war and wears an eyepatch.

Reuben starts off his class every year in the new towns he seems to keep moving to with an extra credit assignment for those who choose to do it: Think of an idea for world change and put it into action. Trevor gets an idea of what to do and sets about doing it. He takes his earnings from his paper route and places an ad in the paper that he will be giving it away to someone at a certain address on a certain day. About forty people show up and he becomes concerned because he only wants to help one person, but a large group leaves when they see that it's only a kid. So he decides to have them write an essay to determine why they should get it. A few more leave because they can't write. He picks out a homeless junkie named Jerry to help. He buys him some new clothes and lets him take a shower in his home much to his mother's consternation. Jerry is able to get a job working on cars and he helps Arlene by taking apart the truck to save her money as she is selling it for parts and it cuts into what she can get if the guy has to remove it himself. All that Trevor asks is that Jerry does three things for three other people and have them do three things for three other people. He calls it the Pay It Forward system. But Jerry will let him down by going back to jail.

The other person Trevor helps is Mrs. Greenberg, an elderly woman on his paper route. He takes care of her lawn and flowers. He tells her about the Pay It Forward System. But Trevor hears that she dies and believes that she never had time to pay it forward. He does keep up her lawn and takes care of the stray cats that Mrs. Greenberg took care of just in case she is looking down from Heaven.

The third person on his list to help is Reuben. He believes that Reuben and his mom should be together and that they would be happy. But he feels he is doomed to fail on this front as well as the two keep acting defensively toward each other. She believes that he looks down on her for her lack of education and he believes that she looks down on him for his hideous appearance. They're both wrong, of course. But that will not be the only obstacle to them getting together. One bigger than the two can imagine will come between them.

This was a really good book. It was very well written with an idea that at the time of its publication seemed revolutionary. It's a shame it didn't take hold. Some people might have trouble with the different narrators as it can be confusing, though it wasn't to me. I would like to take a moment here to point out that in the book Reuben is an African American and in the movie he is portrayed by Kevin Spacey, a fine actor who happens to be white. That is a shame. I also understand that the mioie really departs from the book for those who have seen it. I do recommend this book.

Quotes
I no longer think I lack a judgment about men. I will never again say my instincts are poor, no sir, because how do I keep finding the same guy over and over? I am beginning to think I have a very keen sense of judgment, only it would seem that it is on somebody else’s side.
-Catherine Ryan Hyde (Pay It Forward p 19)

Arlene started to say something back by couldn’t think what it should be and worried it would be a bad, weak-sounding something no matter how carefully she thought it up. So instead she poured two fingers of good old Jose Cuervo. The one man in her life who never told her lies, so you always knew what you would get. And you could never say you didn’t know.
-Catherine Ryan Hyde (Pay It Forward p 23)

There was something clean and victorious about waking up feeling that bad. It meant he was alive still. That’s he’d survived again.
-Catherine Ryan Hyde (Pay It Forward p 159)

Much to Gordie’s surprise and relief, he found the ability to detach had not abandoned him. It would be another beating like so many before. He would watch it from a distance, and his skin and bones would heal. Or maybe this time not. But he would be elsewhere as it happened, shut down. When you don’t care anymore you deprive them of the joy of hurting you. Hard to hit somebody where they live if there’s nobody home.
-Catherine Ryan Hyde (Pay It Forward p 280)
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LibraryThing member Nataliec7
A sweet story really. A young boy Trevor is set an assignment at school to do something that will change the world. Trevor comes up with an idea of doing a good deed for 3 people and those people will pay it forward and help others. Trevor is a lovely boy, living with his mother and his father has
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disappeared. He likes his teacher Reuben and they form a lovely relationship.
It was nice to read about how Trevor decided who needed help and the impact of his little idea. Now to put that forward in the real world!
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LibraryThing member crtsjffrsn
Reuben St. Clair has given an extra credit assignment in his social studies class for years, asking students to come up with something they can do to change the world for the better. But never has he seen a student take the project as seriously as Trevor McKinney whose project, "Pay It Forward,"
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has wide-reaching and unexpected effects that create a national movement. The simplicity of Trevor's idea makes it easy to achieve, and his dedication to seeing it through invigorates the project with a real spirit. But his dedication to its success might also blind him to the the actual successes it is achieving overall. In the end, this is a story about how a little extra kindness in our world can go a long way to make a difference for those we help but also stretch to people we have never even met.

I did really enjoy this book, but I must tell you it immediately made me dislike the film (I think I was only a chapter in . Unfortunately, the film is white-washed in a number of ways and important content that apparently wouldn't play well to mainstream filmgoers at the time of the movie's release (alcoholism, child abuse, LGBT characters, hate crimes, etc.) was written out of the film adaptation. And what's sad is that the story is far less powerful for it. I do encourage people to read the book, even if you've seen the movie (and liked it or didn't), as I think the story in its original form is impactful, inspiring, and interesting.
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LibraryThing member Castlelass
Set in California in the early 1990s, this book tells of Trevor, a 12-year-old challenged by his teacher to come up with an idea to change the world. His concept of “Paying it Forward,” carrying out a good turn, something big, for someone who cannot do it for him or herself, is a worthy one.
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Unfortunately, the story was bogged down by an on-again, off-again romance between his mother and teacher that became extremely repetitive and took focus away from the central idea of the book. I wish it had focused more on the boy’s idea and the creative ways people could perform good acts, but it seemed to focus mostly on “rescuing” people, either physically or financially. The writing was rudimentary, and the ending negated the purpose behind the concept. What seemed like a great idea fell short in the execution.
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Awards

Audie Award (Finalist — 2001)
Best Fiction for Young Adults (Selection — 2001)

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2000
1999

Physical description

6.75 inches

ISBN

0684862719 / 9780684862712
Page: 1.3417 seconds