Response by Volponi

Paul Volponi is an excellent writer, and I think he has distinct appeal to male audiences. I haven't read everything that he has written. I first read Hurricane Song, a horribly compelling story about Hurricane Katrina. It made me think about some things I hadn't previously considered. In all the stories that I heard during that time, the Superdome stories weren't stories that came onto my register. The stories I heard were from family members who had gone to New Orleans to help with their medical skills and those stories were horrible enough.
So to read Hurricane Song, I was introduced to a whole new perspective.


Volponi's newest piece of fiction, Response, is a series of events that could take place anywhere in the United States. Three best friends leave their side of town in order to boost a Lexus. While there, they change their minds and end up having pizza at an Italian joint. While inside the restaurant, they run into some white kids of Italian heritage and some racial slurs and threats are made.

While walking home that evening, the white kids pull up in a Landrover and get out with a R-E-S-P-O-N-S-E bat. The black kids take off, but one of them trips and falls. He is repeatedly beaten with the bat, cracking his skull and breaking bones. When the ambulance and police arrive, they rush him to the hospital where metal plates are put into his head. The police quickly find the perps, the white kids, and arrest them. This starts a black vs. white racial war that will turn the town on it's ear.

The main character, Noah, has much to live for, including his new baby daughter. His role in this whole thing, as survivor, is to be a model for others. How can he, though, when he is repeatedly forced into adverse situations that he doesn't know how to handle?

With help from his parents and his grandmother, Noah is able to keep to the right path and learn about what it means to be a man. Throughout the trial, he learns how to channel his anger and make himself productive rather than destroyed by hate.

Volponi does a great job of setting up scenario after scenario that require the reader to think and analyze their own reaction to hate crimes. The formatting changes from chapter to chapter, creating an interesting visual environment for the reader. You can't lose with this title!!

To view a digital book review from teacherlibrarian, click here!!

Happy Reading!!