Rating: 
Summary: Touching, heartwarming. A charm!
Review: Catherine Ryan Hyde's Pay It Forward will sneak up on you. Once you begin the story of Trevor, Arlene, Reuben and the rest, you will suddenly find yourself in the middle of the book, with a whole day of great reading behind you. It's that catching, Paying It Forward, that is.Keeping who is who straight is the only part of this book that leaves you in the dark. Every character is as important as the rest, but with a Movement like Paying It Forward, you're bound to meet many characters. After all, each character helps three more, who help three more, who help three more..... It's the beauty of Trevor's idea in the first place. But, the characters seem real. Each needs help, and each gives help. It gives readers a warm fuzzy feeling that will last for a while. You will begin to think "What if I Pay It Forward?!" Read carefully, though, and you will catch the foreshadowing of what becomes of all the characters. It will help the shock when you learn what happens to everyone if you can make your own gusses about what will happen. Trust your instincts when it comes to putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Hyde does a great job of hinting at what will become. Read the excerpts from Trevor's diary. They are touching and the best part of the book. The world through a child's eyes is a gift to cherish.
Rating: 
Summary: It's not original
Review: Sorry to bear the bad news, but there is nothing original in either the concept of this book or the phrase "pay forward." A late, well-known football coach used the words "pay forward" in teaching a generation of college athletes to do well in the world, and to stretch themselves beyond their playing field accomplishments. He stressed that you can never pay back the people who helped you along in your formative years, so you have an implicit obligation to pay forward. I searched this book for some sort of acknowledgement of this great man's idea and didn't find it. So here is the attribution that should have appeared in the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful
Review: This book was absolutely wonderful... it was a little different from the motion picture "Pay It Forward", but still it was heartwarming, tearjerking, and just a great book to read!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book for Educators!
Review: As a teacher, this book was inspiring because of the faith that one boy had in an assignment given to him by his social studies teacher. It is encouraging to read material which centers around teachers and their lives.
Rating:
Summary: A Pleasure to Read
Review: It is so nice to read a book Ican pass on to my granddaughter.I made the mistake of seeingthe movie first. It was disappointing because I found ithard to follow; although the acting was superb. The book hadso much more that coudn't possiblyfit on a movie screen. So I recommend that parents should buythe book for their boys and girls12yrs. and up.
Rating:
Summary: a real "tweener"
Review: I'm a sucker for utopian, or dystopian, novels. Looking Backwards, Brave New World, 1984, etc. Booksellers see me coming and hang signs out the window with either word. Ok, not really... This is a hard book to get a handle on. It's too mature for the "young adult novel" tag but it comes off feeling like one. There are stretches that are real page-turners and others that make you want to move on to your next book. At times I warmed up to the boy who is the main character and at times he seemed too over-the-top sweet/smart: kindof a Dr. Oliver Swift/Mr. Wesley Crusher thing. Overall I give it the nod for an original, clever concept that adds a dollop of hope into the world.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable but unbelievable.
Review: Catherine Ryan Hyde wrote a nicely flowing novel. It is easy to follow and keeps the reader interested. Several of the characters narrate the story, and we are offered illustrations of their lives through their accounts. However, I didn't feel that I ever really got to know the central character, 12-year-old Trevor. His narrations were limited to a few brief diary entries which were not very revealing. The results of Trevor's idea to "pay it forward" are really quite incredible. When I read a work of fiction, I'd like to think that it could actually have happened. But this I feel is too much of a stretch. Nevertheless, it is an enjoyable read. A hopeful yet melancholy modern-day fairytale.
Rating: 
Summary: I can't recommend it...even though I kind of enjoyed it...
Review: The first thing I should say is that I started reading this book, while waiting at the airport to catch a flight home, & finished it 4 hours later, about 10 minutes before landing. My point here is that "Pay it forward" is an easy-to-read, quite compelling book. It takes hold of you, & keeps your attention until you finish it. But I don't think the fact that a book is easily read is what makes it a good book. It may well be that the book is simply shallow. And I think this is exactly the case here. "Pay it forward" has an interesting idea as a central theme (what would happen if someone did a good deed, & instead of accepting any kind of repayment, asked whomever they did the good deed for to "pay it forward" to 3 people). Simple huh? In this incredibly obvious & yet (supposedly) overlooked way, the world would quickly & easily change. World peace, here we come...... And yet, the next obvious thought is: so why hasn't this brilliant idea been put into action so far? And here I was impressed by the naivite of many readers & reviewers who think the only reason that this kind of thing doesn't happen has to do with everybody else (except them) being cynics & not believing it could happen. So ok, next obvious question--why would all these supposedly cynical & bitter-hearted people believe world peace could not be achieved that easily? Here the answer is far more complicated. One thing I could say is that doing good for someone else is not a simple thing at all, it has to do with whatever one believes or doesn't believe. Imagine for example a deeply religious person believing they could help people by converting them to "truth". Imagine also a group of socialists believing communism is the way to help & save people, & taking it into their hands to change the world. That would surely not sit too well with americans, would it? Everyone has a different idea of what's "good" for others... Anyway, to the point--"Pay it forward" is a shallow, well-intentioned little book, a book that can inspire interesting conversations, mostly because of its basic idea. As for development of characters, & the actual writing, I thought that -at best- it was mediocre.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book!!
Review: I absolutely love Pay It Forward! It was written wonderfully! It really moved me and I have never in my life read such a great book! Catherine Ryan Hyde should be very proud about this book because everyone I know has read it and loved it!! I can't wait to read more of her books! And I loved the movie for PIF! It was no surprise that they would make such a great book into a great movie!!!!!!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Maudlin
Review: This book was so disappointing. I read a review that said it was inspirational. I found the characters actions to be unrealistic. The ending was totally sappy and unecessary. I knew I was supposed to be sad but I wasn't. I was just disgusted.
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