Reviews

A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich by Alice Childress

bookcub's review against another edition

challenging dark tense

farrengreen's review against another edition

3.0

Read this for school so I couldn’t stay focused on it very well. Other than that, really enjoyed it!

jwinchell's review against another edition

5.0

I liked the shifting narrators and the depth of each POV; each person's story helped me understand the circumstances that led up to and continued through Benjie's story. I liked the historical context--I have a sense for early 1970s NY now. This book is essentially about addiction and the devastation it causes in individuals and communities; and it's about the role of autonomy within family systems. The slang is something that takes getting used to, but I think this is a very valuable quick read for young adults.

dragonskator1981's review against another edition

The print size was hard to read and I couldn't get into it. 

tx2its's review against another edition

4.0

Reading 2021
Book 106: A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich by Alice Childress

Time Magazine list of 100 best YA books. Book 11 of #30booksin30days.

Will return with a full review.

WOW! this was an intense and raw book. My rating 4 ⭐.

kelly80's review against another edition

4.0

Slowly working my way through these classic YA novels. This one must have been eye-opening back in the day.

toniuhgwire's review against another edition

3.0

I think this might be a good book to teach, though I’m not sure how much kids would enjoy it. Definitely a window book for me—it discusses a lot of important issues I don’t face personally. I think I enjoyed the perspective flipping. The principal’s chapter was probably one of the most impactful to me.

razishiri's review against another edition

3.0

My last book of the summer! This was a quick, arresting read, a story told in the voices and vernacular of its characters, with the occasional newspaper clipping thrown in. I have never lived in an urban slum, but the characters and events seemed convincing to me. There were only a few lines that sounded too snappy or poetic to be real--the title line was one of them. It's easy to imagine this novel being performed as a series of monologues. Each character has redeeming qualities, and in the end (I haven't quite finished, but I'm sure) the protagonist is redeemed.

black_girl_reading's review against another edition

4.0

This book, about a 13 year old addicted to heroin, told through his perspective, and the perspectives of his family, teachers, neighbours, etc. Despite being severely dated by the language of the 70’s, this book tells an extremely plausible narrative about how kids get hooked on drugs, about how communities are infiltrated by addiction due to, you guessed it, marginalization, policies, and disenfranchisement, and about how love is not enough. Early Black books for young people about our struggles. What an important thing to have, and I’m glad the tradition continues into modern day. I can’t believe the blurb from the NY Times on the cover calling it “entertaining”, but here we are. If you’re reading books for youth that are about real life and aren’t just festivals of hormones, check this one out, it’s a forerunner to the best of what we are seeing currently.

rjozinga's review against another edition

2.0

I am always a fan of stories told by many different narrators, and this book was no exception. I thought this story really showed how drug abuse affects everyone, not just the addict. Benjie is clearly addicted to heroin, yet he believes he can stop at anytime. His addiction is ruining the lives of his mother, stepfather and grandmother, with whom he lives. We see Benjie complete rehab and then steal from his stepfather in order to feed his addiction. At the end of the book, Benjie appears to hit a turning point and really want to change, but we still see Butler waiting for him at the followup clinic, hoping he will show up. I thought this book was good and fairly easy to read, minus some of the slang used. It was a little dated, but I think it could still be appreciated by kids today. I would recommend it to middle and early high school students.