Review: Dear Bully: Seventy Authors Tell Their Stories.

Posted September 2, 2011 by Rowena in Reviews | 1 Comment

Rowena’s review of Dear Bully: Seventy Authors Tell Their Stories.

You are not alone

Discover how Lauren Kate transformed the feeling of that one mean girl getting under her skin into her first novel, how Lauren Oliver learned to celebrate ambiguity in her classmates and in herself, and how R.L. Stine turned being the “funny guy” into the best defense against the bullies in his class.

Today’s top authors for teens come together to share their stories about bullying—as silent observers on the sidelines of high school, as victims, and as perpetrators—in a collection at turns moving and self-effacing, but always deeply personal.

It’s really hard for me to review this book because this isn’t a work of fiction. Each of the stories told throughout this book are real stories that happened to real people. In this book, seventy authors come forward and talk about their different stories with bullies.

Each story is told in a way that will have you reflecting back to your teenage years and it’ll have your heart breaking because of what each author went through and how each story helped shape the people they all grew up to be. I know that immediately after finishing the last story, I gave the book to my daughter to read because as much as I talk about standing up for those that are being bullied at school, to see what’s going through people’s heads while they were being bullied helps paint a clearer picture of how devastating being bullied is and I want them to understand that it’s never okay.

I can’t say that I connected with one story more than the others because I took away something from each and every single story. I reflected on the kid that I was and the adult that I’ve grown up to be. My past has helped to shape me into the person that I am today and as strong as I think I am, I’m no where near as strong as each of the authors with stories in this book.

This book is very enlightening at the same time that it’s not preachy. There’s nothing in this book that will have you thinking that these people think that they’re better than everyone because of the things that they went through as kids. No, this book is a mouth piece for seventy authors who were harassed as children and want the kids that are going through this now to know that they’re not alone. There is help out there for those that need it and they’re urging kids to stand up for each other and to stop bullying.

I’m so glad that I picked this book up to read for review. I’m grateful that we were offered a review copy of this book because it’s something that parents of children in their tweens and teenage years should read…together. It’s something that needs to be talked about and awareness needs to be raised to help those kids that need the help. I definitely recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

A portion of the sales from this book will be going to the anti-bullying campaign so please go out and get a copy of this book for yourself and heck, buy a copy for your friends- you’d be helping out a very worthy cause.

Grade: 5 out of 5

This book is available from Harper Collins. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

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Tagged: 5.0 Reviews, Dear Bully, Harper Collins, Nonfiction, Reviews

Young Adult Authors Join Together to End Bullying

Posted July 20, 2011 by Rowena in News | 4 Comments

I’m a huge fan of this project because I’m not a fan of bullies. When we got this email, I immediately wanted to read and review it here on Book Binge. I also want to hold a giveaway to help promote this so stay tuned for that.

Check out the information we got from the press release for this:

70 Young Adult authors have contributed their personal experiences with bullying in the highly-anticipated anthology DEAR BULLY (HarperTeen, September 2011).

Every seven minutes a child is bullied. When sixteen-year-old Phoebe Prince took her life after being persistently bullied by classmates, two young adult authors decided to take action. Megan Kelley Hall (Sisters of Misery and The Lost Sister) and Carrie Jones (Need and Entice) edited the anthology that includes work from Megan McCafferty, RL Stine, Laurie Faria Stolarz, and many more. Each essay tackles personal bullying experiences from different angles. Some of these writers were bullied, some were bullies and some have witnessed bullying. The honesty and authenticity that comes from these voices will no doubt help many children facing down these issues and provide solace in knowing they are not alone.

Bullying is an issue that continues to affect millions of lives. Here are some statistics that these authors could discuss in an interview:

-5.7 million teens are bullied or have bullied someone.
-1 out of 4 kids is bullied.
-77% of students said they had been bullied.
-Bully victims are between 2 and 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims.
-Nearly 30 percent of students are either bullies or victims of bullying.
-160,000 kids stay home from school every day because of fear of bullying.
-Bullying is increasingly viewed as an important contributor to youth violence, including homicide and suicide.
-Nearly 300,000 students are physically attacked in secondary schools each month.
-Every 7 minutes a child is bullied. Adult intervention- 4%. Peer intervention- 11%. No intervention – 85%

These authors are hoping to provide a safe and supportive place for victims of bullying through their personal stories and anecdotes. A portion of the proceeds from DEAR BULLY is going to the anti-bullying organization Stomp Out Bullying (stompoutbullying.org). These essays will show children, as well as adults, that it is possible to rise above bullying and succeed.

I wasn’t a victim of bullying when I was in school and my daughter isn’t either but she has come home in tears a few times because she witnessed others from school being bullied or made fun of. We’re fortunate in our family that we have three kids in the same grade who go to the same school that have the mentality of, “You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us”. The first time my daughter came home and told me she witnessed someone getting bullied, I made her promise that she would get the others and help whoever she saw getting bullied from then on and she has kept to that promise. It’s hard for bullies to pick on one kid when they are others who will stand up for them.

She hasn’t come home with bully stories since her and her cousins helped a person they didn’t even know against some bullies. I’m glad for it and I think that this book will do amazing things with raising awareness about bullying. I think it’s pretty great that a portion of the sales from this book will go toward the anti-bullying organization.

This book will be available for purchase on August 23, 2011 and I think everyone should grab a copy to support a very worthy cause. You can pre-order a copy for yourself here and here.