THE PLAYBOOK, by Kwame Alexander

The story: Here are 52 rules for how to get ahead in life, featuring quotes by famous athletes, poems by Newbery-winner Kwame Alexander, and other inspirational material.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language G; Violence G; Sexual content G; Nudity G; Substance abuse G; Magic & the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes G; overall rating G.

Liz's comments: Call me a cynic. There is absolutely nothing wrong with anything in this book--work hard! Be smart! Believe in yourself! But there's always the suspicion in the back of my mind that authors put books like this together not because they care that much about readers "winning at the game of life", but because it's an easy way to make money off their own and others' fame. Some kids will like this because (1) it's short and (2) it brings about a temporary "Yeah! I can do it!" response; most kids will find the lack of a plot underwhelming and leave it unfinished unless it's required for a book study. Hate me, but that's how I feel.