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    Buddha Boy
    Buddha Boy
    Buddha Boy
    Audiobook2 hours

    Buddha Boy

    Written by Kathe Koja

    Narrated by Spencer Murphy and Full Cast

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    With his shaved head and begging bowl the new kid is an automatic target for the bully boys of Edward Rucher High, an easy mark for their casual cruelty.

    Watching this, Justin would gladly stay as far from the newcomer as possible, until their economics teacher pairs them for a project and he finds himself becoming fascinated by the kid the others mock as "Buddha Boy". The thing is, friendship with an outcast always carries a price, and soon Justin must decide if he can stay silent in the face of what he knows.

    A scorching portrait of contemporary high school life, featuring a character listeners will never forget.

    ©2003 Kathe Koja; (P)2004 Full Cast Audio

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherFull Cast Audio
    Release dateJan 1, 2004
    ISBN9781933322575
    Buddha Boy
    Author

    Kathe Koja

    Kathe Koja is a writer and producer based in Detroit. Her work includes The Cipher, Skin, Under the Poppy, and Dark Factory.  

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    Reviews for Buddha Boy

    3.5/5

    90 ratings14 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Michael Martin goes by Jinsen, but the kids at Edward Rucher High School call him “Buddha Boy” or else just “freak.” And Jinsen is different. With his shaved head and ratty old clothes, he stands out. When he starts begging for lunch money in the school cafeteria, his social status is cemented into place.Enter Justin, a regular kid with friends and a normal high school life. When he is paired with Jinsen to work on a class project, he plans to get done quickly and move on. But as he gets to know Jinsen and his way of seeing the world he finds that he doesn’t want to. Jinsen is a Buddhist and his ethical code and manner of living are foreign and intriguing to Justin. That and his remarkable artistic talent bring the boys close and they form a friendship. But Justin discovers that being Buddha Boy means being under constant attack by school bullies and as his friend, he bears some of that burden with him.Buddha Boy is a remarkable book about friendship, a moral code, self discovery, and facing adversity. The characters of Jinsen and Justin are surprisingly well-developed for such a short book. The story itself spans a brief, but pivotal time for both boys and at its end, it seems that they will part ways, not as a matter of choice, but of circumstance. This leaves the reader with the feeling of having glimpsed into an important, formative period of their lives.Koja’s descriptions of Buddhist beliefs and philosophy are casual and do not serve an agenda as so many writings about religion tend to and the character of Jinsen embodies the spirit of Buddhism rather poetically.
    • 4/5
      A powerful story about bullying and finding your own peace.
    • 3/5
      There's something to be said for a book that can be started and finished in one long car trip. For an old lady it is easy to remember all the cast and how they are related to each other. On the other hand it means the author really has to pack a lot into a few words.Buddha Boy tells the story of Justin and his relationship with the new, strange kid at school, Jinsen. When Justin is paired with Jinsen for a class project, he tries to get away from the boy with the shaved head who begs in the school lunchroom. He watches in silence as the "cool" kids bully Jinsen, but the more Justin is around him, and the more he learns about his talents and his beliefs, the more Justin begins to question and push back on the way things are.I got this book as part of the Sync giveaway on Audiobooksync.com. Given that the Sync program is geared toward kids in school, the story seemed written at the right level, but I felt it seemed a bit trite at times. Jinsen's backstory, while an interesting one, didn't seem to jive with his physical description throughout most of the book. All that being said, however, I think the message of the book is a good one and I did find myself being challenged in the same way that Justin found his own beliefs challenged. So this is a book that is recommended with reservations.
    • 4/5
      A quick read (and listen) about a guy who was floating by in the social middle in high school who befriends a new kid, Ginsen, who is targeted by bullies because he is different. "Buddha Boy" has incredible talent as an artist and has a tough home life, but he has managed to get himself to a zen state of mind. Keeping to his promise of a peaceful, non-engagement existence with the bullies who try to torment him at every opportunity. The narrator has a much harder time seeing this treatment and moving himself from a bystander to a upstander.
    • 3/5
      The new boy in school is strange and a target for bullying by the in-crowd. Justin gets to know and admire him. As the new boy showcases his artistic talent, the bullying intensifies, becoming unbearable.
    • 3/5
      Justin is enduring social pressure from his friends and his enemies at his rich, suburban high school, while still trying to maintain a relationship with his divorced parents by doing everything right. The problem is when you know that the “right” thing to do is also the “wrong” thing to do. Justin is faced with deciding whether to turn his back on his pals by befriending the odd kid at school who shaves his head, or join the cool crowd by making fun of the new boy who also happens to be a fantastic artist. Peer pressure and bullying are major themes of this story. Not only does Justin contend with issues of social justice in the high school arena, he is also exposed to weighty matters of poverty, death, and religion through the growing development of his hesitant friendship with Jinsen. Middle school readers and up will relate to the main character’s sometimes frustrating and challenging personal experiences, always questioning how they might act if they were in Justin’s shoes. Ultimately, this fast-paced tale of enlightenment will entertain readers with its varied cast of thought-provoking characters and true-to-life situations.
    • 4/5
      Jinsen is the new kid at school, and he's strange. He wears huge t-shirts, shaves his head, and doesn't fight back when he's bullied. Not only that, he doesn't cry or run, either. He smiles to himself and continues with his day.Justin is curious, but likes his high school social status of being in the middle and doesn't want to risk being the target of the bullies or shunned by his current friends in order to reach out to Jinsen. However, when he is paired with Jinsen for a school project, he doesn't have a choice other than to spend some time with the new kid. They develop a friendship, which Justin tries to hide from his peers at first.This is a very short book, only 4 hours on a playaway, so it doesn't delve too deeply into the issue of bullying. But it does give a different perspective because the "victim" refuses to be a victim, but is also not an activist. He accepts the behaviors of others towards him without taking it on as his own identity. It's pretty unbelievable that a teenage boy with a violent history would begin to live a Buddhist life immediately after the death of his parents and moving to a new place to live with an elderly aunt. However, the story works. If it had gone on longer, it probably would not have.
    • 3/5
      A realistic look at the social scene of life in high school, Buddha Boy gives us perspective on what it feels like to watch a "freak" in school being bullied by a group of popular boys and yet never to complain or fight back.
    • 2/5
      I understand the premises the authors has presented. I personally resented the representation of Christians as hypocritical. That the only true spiritual person was Edward. (Language problems)
    • 3/5
      This is a story about befriending the weird kid, and the power of art to transform the worst situations.I thought this was entertaining, especially with the Full Cast Audio production, but it didn't say anything new to me. Justin is happily in the middle,not one of the popular kids, and not one of the outcasts, but one of a small gang of kids on the fringe. But when he befriends Jinsen, the new boy who is the focus of the schools bullies, he finds that he can't hide out on the edges any more. A common love of art brings the two boys together, but also allows the bullies to do their worst damage.I don't think that Justin really changed during the course of this book, he made a friend, but he barely stood up for Jinsen at all. So the transformation is that he finds courage to like someone, but not to stand by that someone? His temper tantrum at the end is more whiny outburst than courageous gesture.I'd give this to a reader interested in bullies, art, or boy's friendship.
    • 5/5
      fabulous for just over 100 pages. there was a really neat twist to it, too. So far Kathe Koja is one of my fave YA authors.
    • 4/5
      This was a very quick and easy read and really kept the interest going. There was a clear message and I think kids would enjoy the book quite a bit.
    • 5/5
      Michael has become known as Buddha Boy around school, because of his strange actions and clothing. Kids pick on him because he is different. Justin is a pretty normal kid who doesn't want any trouble, but he finds himself paired up with the Buddha Boy; at first because he is forced to work with him, but later, because he gets to know Michael better and wants to understand, defend, or just stand with him.
    • 4/5
      Jinsen, a Buddhist, sophomore and artist, transfers to Rucher, the stereotypical rich preppy high school. Justin befriends him, almost against his will, and has to decide how to respond to bullies when Jinsen won’t fight back.I liked this book, and would recommend it. As someone with a pretty decent background in Buddhism, I think the author did a good job of getting the basic points across but without being too preachy. It was annoying and distracting when the narrator inserted flippant comments, like “Karma, it was all karma. Just don’t ask me what that means.”