Letters to a Young Brother: Manifest Your Destiny

Harper speaks to the boy growing into manhood on a level that is easily understood and straight from the heart. He doesn't preach, he gives options with reasons. I'd like to give this book to every adolescent male in America who needs a mentor.

Letters to a Young Brother: MANifest Your Destiny

This book was long overdue. It is good for young men to read. I bought a few books and sent them to the young teenagers in my family.

J.L. Kelly

Brooklyn, NY

This book was assigned reading, and all the name-dropping, shallowness, and relentless flattery of the reader made for a really annoying read. There is valuable advice mixed in with the sense that this person would be very ill at ease on the bus at 5:00 A.M. The book is both a mixed bag AND a valuable contribution to public discourse. The three-star review is reflective of being torn between some of this book seeming like five stars with other parts seeming more like one star. Read critically particularly when the author is telling people he has never met how much better they are than all kinds of other people he has never met. Sincere encouragement is nice, but this is not that. This is advice from the top.

Hill Harper is a well-known and often lusted after actor who has played in movies such as Lackawanna Blues and the hit crime series CSI. However, LETTERS TO A YOUNG BROTHER shows a completely different side of him. Through the book, he shares his commitment to youth as well as a lot of his background and life expereinces. Harper immediately grabs your attention as he shares stories about his trailblazing family and his own Ivy League educational background. From there, he presents a series of letters which address many of the questions he receives from fans at speaking engagements, via email, or other avenues. As hereplies to these letters, he provides sound moral advice about how to live. In addition, he has reached out to some of his famous friends, other positive male role models, asking them to respond to some of the questions and includes thier responses in the book. He touches on education, financial stewardship, relationships with parents, and how to pick good friends. As he touches on the topics, he gives advice in an encouraging rather than preachy tone. In the end, readers will take away a myriad of positive messages, sound advice, and a new appreciation for the importance of hard work and personal responsibility.

Hill Harper has written a timely book that is intended for young, under-served male youth, and particularly African-American males. However, this is a book youth of any cultural or socio-economic background or gender, can benefit from reading. LETTERS TO A YOUNG BROTHER is a good book for parents, and people working with youth can also benefit from reading it. The MANifest Your Destiny Foundation, which was established by Harper, is a non-profit organization that facilitates the pairing of successful, positive role models with under-served youth and provides scholarship, grant and internship opportunities. The foundation shows the author is not just a man of talk, but also one of action. My only concern is perhaps this is a book that parents would want their children to read, rather than one they would naturally be drawn to.

Reviewed by Stacey Seay

of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

As strange as this may sound, by reading this book I gain a better understanding of myself. And by that,I mean I never thought to ask myself questions like What inspires you? What are you passionate about? And honestly I'm still asking myself these questions and more. This book is about being honest with yourself as well as those around you. How you can take charge of your own path in life. And how the answers are inside of you,all along. And it's absolutly free. You know for the longest time I thought men had a better understanding of us then we have of them. But, I come to realize that by reading this book we are no closer to undersandering ourselfs then we are of the opposite sex. As far as relationships are concerned. As for being raise by a single mother I now, have just learned that this was truly a blessing. Because I now, know that it was for the best. But,I can't say that, I was surprise about the attitude towards sex because In order for that to take place our mentality about sex has to change.

I love this book! I enjoyed the personality that shined through and the courage he had to open up, along with the ability to be very candid with the many topics chosen in writing this book. It's encouraging and inviting. You feel him and it makes you think and assess where you are in life, while supplying solutions/options to everyday dilemas. It's a great read for those stuck on what others think about them and has allowed those opinions to stump their growth and or potential. The book also focuses on choices, results and fulfilling your destiny by always being proactive.

I had the great opportunity meeting/hearing Hill Harper at the Queens Public Library on May 1st 2006. I was moved with his enthusiasm to help the brothers. You felt his passion, sincerity and determination when he spoke.

Now,that I just completed reading the book I was greatly challenged to do more and step out of the shallow into the deep. This book needs to be planted in every brother's hands at achools,halfway homes, substance abuse programs and churches or wherever.

Get the book! Read the book! and Pass it on!

I had the wonderful opportunity of hearing Hill Harper speak today (June 1st, 2006) at my college about his new book. He opened my already open eyes even more to what is happening with our young black men in today's society. I must say that is was a shame when he told us about the process of trying to get his book published, and I quote "When I went to all the major publishing houses to try and publish my book, they told me that they would not publish it because YOUNG Black Men Don't READ!"

I think anyone who reads this book, or even gets it as a gift needs to pay it forward and tell the next person about it.

It is time that we took a stand for YOUNG Black MEN, and push them to go farther than they ever have gone before.

I thought they book presented fairly sophisticated material in a way that was understandable for the audience Harper is attempting to reach. Although I was initially taken aback at his candor about certain situations in his life, upon reflection, I thought it was very brave of him to be so honest about negative experiences in his life and how he has learned from them.

I thought the picture of him in scuba gear was very good for young men to see, insofar that it is good to see a "brother" doing things that It is said that we "don't do." I think it is excellent to show what is possible.

One of the negatives in the book, if one wishes to characterize it as such, is that I wished he would not have focused so much on his celebrity friends, although I understand that they may have very much desired to participate in such a worthy project. It would have been nice to have more "regular" people, who did not have professionals in their families, as Harper did, to speak on various subjects.

Other than that critique, I liked the book enough to give it to two young men that I know whom I thought could benefit from what was presented by Harper.

I finished reading Hill Harper's "Letters to a Young Brother: MANifest Your Destiny" and I LOVED IT!!!! I found this book to be a very warm and heartfelt mentoring tool, not just for young men, but could easily be used for young women as well. I loved the way he tied his celebrity into the mentoring tool and referenced other media moguls. He was very upfront and personal and totally opened himself up, sharing his own experiences as examples. It was written in a way that the reader would not feel intimidated with HIll's success as it exposes his own fears, struggles, and short comings, and shares his method for success. With kids today so deep in pop culture, Hill's tools were inciteful and relevant.

If you are interested in giving a book to a young person who may be struggling with their identity, school, work, finances, romance, etc...I would HIGHLY recommend this book! Its contents are both engaging and important!!!