bullying – Peaceful Reader

School can be a frightening place as students of any age try to fit in with an ever changing norm. Amanda Maciel does an amazing job of making this high school story very real. I don’t teach in a high school and my hope is that it isn’t this bad but I have a feeling I could be wrong…

Emma Putnam, a new student, who somehow gets on the wrong side of Brielle and subsequently her followers, Sara, Noelle and a few male characters. Emma is pegged as a slut as she tries to make her way through every day with mean people surrounding her.

They push her around physically and emotionally using FB and Twitter. They taunt her every single time they see her. They put fake Valentine’s Day cutouts on her lawn. They create a vicious FB page for her. And while Emma feels like she has a few friends they often turn on her if Brielle is near. Noone wants to go against Brielle. The line is so thin…it’s much easier to be a bystander or even worse join right in so Brielle might like you more. Why do girls allow a mean queen bee take control like this?

I would love to see this book told again through Emma’s side. She’s human and makes a few mistakes along the way which is just what gives Sara justification to keep taunting her. It is Sara that we follow through alternating monthly chapters of before and after Emma’s suicide. Eventaully she understands how her (and Brielle’s) behavior adversely effected Emma; enough for Emma to lose any hope.

This was hard to read, it hurt my heart, and I so wanted to step in and alternately “shake” each character. Words are what hurt and until we really help kids get this bullying will remain an issue.

How can we teach children at the elementary level to respect each other and spread peace and joy instead of nasty barbs.

Quote:

Sara’s thoughts:

I try to look away, but it’s like my head is stuck. She and Beth are talking in low voices, and Emma looks like she’s been crying or something. She always looks that way-when she’s not flirting with some guy or whatever. Or even when she is, sometimes. She’s this permanent bruise, always getting her feelings hurt, always injured. Everyone at school knows she sees a therapist, and I wonder why they haven’t just put her on antidepressants already. Or ones that actually work. (113)

That’s just how Brielle was. That’s what no one gets, I think-she would tease you even if she did like you. Especially if she liked you. And then if someone was mean to her, or to one of her friends, she’d turn that teasing on to them. It would be a lot less nice, of course. It was pretty tough sometimes. But-and suddenly I know this, standing here with Carmichael, in the middle of passing period, in the middle of nowhere-that’s her survival instinct. That’s just how she deals. (237)

Excellent, well-crafted characters mixed with a very current and real crisis made for a strong story and from a debut author! I’m interested in whatever she writes next. While we are waiting this interview with Amanda is worth it!

I recently went on a YA craze so I could vote for Iowa Teen summer reads. I’ve waited all summer looking each time at the library for Eleanor and Park at my closest library and it was always checked out. I got lucky one day and found it sitting there waiting for me.

Eleanor and Park (2013) by Rainbow Rowell

What a fantastic read this is! Eleanor re-enters her family life after having spent the last year living with a family friend. She meets Park on the bus as she makes her way to her new school. Nobody else wants her to sit with them, that awful thing that happens on school buses across the nation when someone new comes to town and they are a little gawky, unusual, or overweight. She’s shunned by everyone but Park as their relationship begins with little more than head nods and small smiles. Eleanor hides her family life from him as much as possible and as a reader my heart went out to her as she attempted to feel comfortable in Park’s “normal” household, with two loving parents and food in the refrigerator. Their relationship blossoms and they are both changed by it. I loved this stark look at how a child from an abusive home and in poverty struggles to maintain just a small glimmer of hope through all that is her regular life. Every character in the story is one you will love (or hate) and you will want their lives to continue even as you turn the last page.

The Raven Boys (2012) by Maggie Stiefvater

I loved Stiefvater’s Shiver series so I’m not sure what took me so long to pick this one up off the shelf. I don’t think I even investigated what it was about yet when it appeared on my teen list to read for the summer I was anxious to read it. Once I started I had trouble putting it down. Work kept getting in the way! Blue is the daughter of the local psychic in Henrietta and their house is filled with a merry group of friends who also dabble in the magical arts. Her relationship with her mother is solid and happy until a group of Aglionby Academy boys enter into Blue’s life. The group of boys led by Gansey are all looking for a ley line that runs through Henrietta. Gansey knows who ever unlocks the ley line will hold it’s power and help him in the search for Glendower the Welsh king. I’m a fan of fantasy and enjoyed all parts of this intricately-woven tale. I wanted to sit at the table in Blue’s house and have my cards read by Maura, Persephone and Calla. I’m now very excited to read The Dream Thieves out September 17-just around the corner.

I would add both titles to my best of YA along with Ask the Passengers and The Miseducation of Cameron Post. Have you read any these books? Which one resonated the most for you?

Tag: bullying

Debut author Amanda Maciel writes scary high school portrayal…

2 Excellent YA Stories