My Life of Crime

by Richard W. Jennings

When Fowler Young stumbles upon a neglected parrot in Mrs. Picklestain's third-grade classroom, he decides to rescue the poor creature and devises a clever scheme to absolve himself of any wrongdoing, but his plan goes awry, leading him down a winding path of crime.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published October 28, 2002

About the author

Richard Jennings was born and raised in Tennessee. After attending Rhodes College, he moved to Kansas City where he co-founded a popular book store, Rainy Day Books, where his books are always in stock.

Mr. Jennings lives in Overland Park, Kansas, with his wife and family. “He has five children, four grandchildren, a dog, a cat, and a parrot” (as seen on the cover of his books).

He has written novels, short stories, essays, articles, children’s activity books, has made several professional appearances, is a literary judge, and he continues to publish new works.

Reviews

[AutumnR · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was about a kid named Fowler who was very curious after finding a bright green feather on the floor to later find a parrot in the third-grade classroom who was in very bad condition because its feathers were falling out and it had no food. So Fowler came up with a plan to take the bird so it doesn't die. He went through many obstacles so he doesn't become a suspect. When Fowler's friend found out that he had the parrot she decided to keep it a secret and help him take care of it. Eventually everyone found out that Fowler had the parrot because at the music recital when he was playing oboe the parrot was there and the teacher was mad and confronted him about the parrot but she realized that the parrot looks a lot healthier and happier with Fowler so they agreed that if he doesn't do the oboe anymore he can keep the parrot.
At first, I didn’t really like the book because I thought it would have more on edge moments but I ended up liking the book because I didn’t expect him to keep the parrot and it was more interesting than I thought it would be. Yes, I would recommend this book to some people because I feel like some people will find it boring or not interesting or maybe others would really enjoy the story like I did.

[Malia C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that the title of this book makes you think of a criminal's story. Actually, the only big crime that takes place is when he steals the parrot. Overall, this book was really good because of the dialogue that Fowler and his friends have and life. I think the only things that I would change about this book is the title and how the author describes his emotions and how the bird feels. I would have made the book have two perspectives, Fowler's and the bird's. I think that would have made the book a little more interesting.