by Joy Hensley
Summary:
Sam has never backed down from a bet. When her now deceased brother Amos bet her she couldn't be the first female to graduate from the prestigious Denmark Military Academy, she took it as a challenge to be completed no matter what. Now, one of only 5 girls accepted to the Academy, she's finding that not everyone is as accepting of women as they should be. As a secret society puts moves into play to eliminate her and her fellow female recruits in any way possible, Sam will be lucky to finish out the year alive.
Review:
I wasn't sure what to make of this book. At first I thought it was going to be a realistic drama about a girl dealing with the rigors and difficulties of attending a male oriented military academy and all that that implies. I wasn't a huge fan of the whole secret society aspect, it added kind of a silly element that was wholly unnecessary to the plot. Other than that it was a great story about overcoming odds and believing in yourself.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 8th Grade
Showing posts with label Bullying. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bullying. Show all posts
Friday, March 13, 2015
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
The Truth about Alice
by Jennifer Mathieu
Summary:
It started as a flippant remark. Then got passed around by text message. Then got written in the bathroom stalls. It was just a rumor, but immediately everyone assumed it was true. You see Alice was asking for it. She was a slut, everyone knew it. She dressed up for school, wore lipstick, flirted with everyone. So when the rumor that she slept with 2 boys in one night starts everyone believes it. And when one of those boys dies in a car crash, and another says it's because she was sending him dirty text messages while he was driving, Alice is blamed. But no one knows the truth, and no one seems to care that they don't.
Review:
Told in 4 perspectives, but only at Alice's in the very end, this is about the aftermath of a rumor. Each character has a different perspective on what happens both before and following the start of the rumor. Each character has the ability to clear Alice's name, and we learn the reasons each one uses that information. A haunting book about the power of a rumor, its a good read for slightly older teens due to the many references to sex and drinking.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 10th Grade
Summary:
It started as a flippant remark. Then got passed around by text message. Then got written in the bathroom stalls. It was just a rumor, but immediately everyone assumed it was true. You see Alice was asking for it. She was a slut, everyone knew it. She dressed up for school, wore lipstick, flirted with everyone. So when the rumor that she slept with 2 boys in one night starts everyone believes it. And when one of those boys dies in a car crash, and another says it's because she was sending him dirty text messages while he was driving, Alice is blamed. But no one knows the truth, and no one seems to care that they don't.
Review:
Told in 4 perspectives, but only at Alice's in the very end, this is about the aftermath of a rumor. Each character has a different perspective on what happens both before and following the start of the rumor. Each character has the ability to clear Alice's name, and we learn the reasons each one uses that information. A haunting book about the power of a rumor, its a good read for slightly older teens due to the many references to sex and drinking.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 10th Grade
Tease
by Amanda Maciel
Summary:
No one likes a bully. We're all taught that bullying is wrong, and that you should say something if you see it. You're supposed to stand up to bullies. But what if you are the bully? Where is the line between teasing and bullying? When is your "harmless prank" no longer harmless? When Emma Putnam kills herself, everyone immediately blames Sara and her friends relentless bullying of Emma. But Sara doesn't see it as bullying, it was just standard frenemy behavior. But with a trial on the horizon, Sara is going to have to do some soul searching to find out just where she went wrong.
Review:
There are a slew of anti-bullying books out there, but Tease stands out. Sara is a character you want to hate but at the same time can understand how she let things get so out of control. Told in flashbacks, the reader learns what happened leading up to Emma's death and sees Sara evolve in the aftermath. It's a good book told from the bully's perspective, and the ending does manage to pack a surprise as (spoiler alert) Sara finally realizes how wrong she was. Best for older teens due to many references to drinking and sex.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 10th Grade
Summary:
No one likes a bully. We're all taught that bullying is wrong, and that you should say something if you see it. You're supposed to stand up to bullies. But what if you are the bully? Where is the line between teasing and bullying? When is your "harmless prank" no longer harmless? When Emma Putnam kills herself, everyone immediately blames Sara and her friends relentless bullying of Emma. But Sara doesn't see it as bullying, it was just standard frenemy behavior. But with a trial on the horizon, Sara is going to have to do some soul searching to find out just where she went wrong.
Review:
There are a slew of anti-bullying books out there, but Tease stands out. Sara is a character you want to hate but at the same time can understand how she let things get so out of control. Told in flashbacks, the reader learns what happened leading up to Emma's death and sees Sara evolve in the aftermath. It's a good book told from the bully's perspective, and the ending does manage to pack a surprise as (spoiler alert) Sara finally realizes how wrong she was. Best for older teens due to many references to drinking and sex.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 10th Grade
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
The List
by Siobhan Vivian
Summary:
Every year the list comes out. Every year the prettiest and ugliest girl in each grade is determined by that list. The list can make or break someone at Mount Washington High School. When the 8 girls on this years list find out their rankings, each reacts differently. Perhaps this year one of them will break the cycle, but what will it take for them to do it.
Review:
The List grabbed me right from the start. The list is a horrible tradition, but one that you can easily see happening anywhere around the country. The book alternates from the perspectives of each of the girls selected, both the prettiest and the ugliest. Each girl's reaction is believable, and their evolution about their perception of the list from beginning to end is really interesting. It's a great read for teens about the dangers or owning too much into social perception, as well as the dangers of bullying.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 9th Grade
Summary:
Every year the list comes out. Every year the prettiest and ugliest girl in each grade is determined by that list. The list can make or break someone at Mount Washington High School. When the 8 girls on this years list find out their rankings, each reacts differently. Perhaps this year one of them will break the cycle, but what will it take for them to do it.
Review:
The List grabbed me right from the start. The list is a horrible tradition, but one that you can easily see happening anywhere around the country. The book alternates from the perspectives of each of the girls selected, both the prettiest and the ugliest. Each girl's reaction is believable, and their evolution about their perception of the list from beginning to end is really interesting. It's a great read for teens about the dangers or owning too much into social perception, as well as the dangers of bullying.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 9th Grade
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Speechless
by Hannah Harrington
Summary:
Chelsea has always been proud of her status as one of the most popular girls in her high school, and also as the one who knows the dirt on everyone and isn't afraid to share it. After all, gossip is just telling what you know about people. But when she lets out a secret about a boy in her class, a secret that results in him being attacked and almost killed, she realizes that maybe her inability to keep a secret is not good. As a penance of sorts, she decides to stop talking altogether. As she loses her friends and popularity, she beings to find that maybe everything that she thought she was was a lie. Maybe through not talking she'll find her true friends and a better way to be.
Review:
While I thought the whole 'vow of silence' thing to be a bit cliche and selfish of Chelsea, I really wound up liking her as a character by the end of the book. The book itself deals with some very heavy themes: sex, hate crimes, LBGT rights to name a few, but it does so in an age-appropriate way. The book really reminds you the impact that one careless statement can have on many, and in all honestly how many people can say they've never gossiped about someone and regretted it afterwards. A really good read for teens.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 8th Grade
Summary:
Chelsea has always been proud of her status as one of the most popular girls in her high school, and also as the one who knows the dirt on everyone and isn't afraid to share it. After all, gossip is just telling what you know about people. But when she lets out a secret about a boy in her class, a secret that results in him being attacked and almost killed, she realizes that maybe her inability to keep a secret is not good. As a penance of sorts, she decides to stop talking altogether. As she loses her friends and popularity, she beings to find that maybe everything that she thought she was was a lie. Maybe through not talking she'll find her true friends and a better way to be.
Review:
While I thought the whole 'vow of silence' thing to be a bit cliche and selfish of Chelsea, I really wound up liking her as a character by the end of the book. The book itself deals with some very heavy themes: sex, hate crimes, LBGT rights to name a few, but it does so in an age-appropriate way. The book really reminds you the impact that one careless statement can have on many, and in all honestly how many people can say they've never gossiped about someone and regretted it afterwards. A really good read for teens.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 8th Grade
Monday, October 22, 2012
Bullyville
by Francine Prose
Summary:
Bart's parents worked together in the World Trade Center. It's where they met, where they fell in love, where they worked every day even after his father left his mom for someone else. But no one knew that on the day that the planes hit the towers. On a day he had a fever so his mom stayed home to take care of him instead of going to work. So instead of losing both his parents, it was only his dad that was gone. But he was gone already, but no one quite understands. Now Bart's at a prep school on a scholarship because everyone feels bad for him, but the school is only making his life worse.
Review:
One of the more interesting aspects of Bullyville was reading how Bart dealt with his father's death. He struggles to not only accept his father's death, but to find a way to accept that despite the fact that his father left he is still allowed to grieve. The bullying at the school he attends seems a bit far fetched, however the main story is interesting. It's a good read for boys.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 5th-6th Grade
Summary:
Bart's parents worked together in the World Trade Center. It's where they met, where they fell in love, where they worked every day even after his father left his mom for someone else. But no one knew that on the day that the planes hit the towers. On a day he had a fever so his mom stayed home to take care of him instead of going to work. So instead of losing both his parents, it was only his dad that was gone. But he was gone already, but no one quite understands. Now Bart's at a prep school on a scholarship because everyone feels bad for him, but the school is only making his life worse.
Review:
One of the more interesting aspects of Bullyville was reading how Bart dealt with his father's death. He struggles to not only accept his father's death, but to find a way to accept that despite the fact that his father left he is still allowed to grieve. The bullying at the school he attends seems a bit far fetched, however the main story is interesting. It's a good read for boys.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 5th-6th Grade
Thursday, June 7, 2012
The Knife that Killed Me
By Anthony McGowan
Summary:
Paul has always considered himself to be a loner. It's never been that bad for him, mostly it lets him fly under the radar of bullies or anyone else. But then Roth notices him. Roth, the most notorious guy at school. Infamous for his violence and bullying, Roth is just the kind of person Paul is hoping to avoid. But then Roth does something surprising. Instead of beating up Paul, he becomes his friend. Paul, instead of running from a person he knows to be dangerous, falls right into his trap. He likes being respected by his fellow students, even if that respect is tinged with fear. And when a knife comes into the mix, and a terrible fight, Paul will find out that being friends with nefarious people is the worst mistake he could have made.
Review:
McGowan's book is written in the blink of an eye for the character, as he relives the moments that led to him being about to be stabbed. None of the characters in the book are particularly sympathetic. While you want to feel for Paul as he feels forced into doing Roth's bidding, you don't because he continually is given opportunities to extricate himself from the situation and doesn't. The book does have a good twist at the end but on the whole you don't feel very resolved when it finishes. Most of the characters who should get caught don't, which I suppose also makes it more true to life. A decent read for male tweens.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 9th Grade
Summary:
Paul has always considered himself to be a loner. It's never been that bad for him, mostly it lets him fly under the radar of bullies or anyone else. But then Roth notices him. Roth, the most notorious guy at school. Infamous for his violence and bullying, Roth is just the kind of person Paul is hoping to avoid. But then Roth does something surprising. Instead of beating up Paul, he becomes his friend. Paul, instead of running from a person he knows to be dangerous, falls right into his trap. He likes being respected by his fellow students, even if that respect is tinged with fear. And when a knife comes into the mix, and a terrible fight, Paul will find out that being friends with nefarious people is the worst mistake he could have made.
Review:
McGowan's book is written in the blink of an eye for the character, as he relives the moments that led to him being about to be stabbed. None of the characters in the book are particularly sympathetic. While you want to feel for Paul as he feels forced into doing Roth's bidding, you don't because he continually is given opportunities to extricate himself from the situation and doesn't. The book does have a good twist at the end but on the whole you don't feel very resolved when it finishes. Most of the characters who should get caught don't, which I suppose also makes it more true to life. A decent read for male tweens.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 9th Grade
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Before I Fall
by Lauren Oliver
Summary:
What would you do if you knew you were going to die today? Would you do the same things you've done every day before? Would you spend the whole day with family and friends? Would you try and right the wrongs you've done in your life? Samantha didn't know it would be the last day of her life when she work up on February 12th. But she did know the next day, and the next, as she kept waking up to repeat the day. You see Samantha keeps dying on February 12th, and it's up to her to figure out how to break the cycle.
Review:
Samantha is the pretty popular girl everyone loves to her face and hates secretly. She and her friends are the ultimate mean girls. But as she is forced to relive the day she dies over and over again, Samantha realizes the harm that she's done in her life and tries to rectify it so that she can break the cycle she's stuck in and move on to whatever is next, even if it means her death. This was a great novel about coming to terms with ones life and making the right choices even when they are hard. Samantha is a character that you start out hating but end up really sympathizing with and liking. The ending was both sad and poignant.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 10th-11th Grade
Summary:
What would you do if you knew you were going to die today? Would you do the same things you've done every day before? Would you spend the whole day with family and friends? Would you try and right the wrongs you've done in your life? Samantha didn't know it would be the last day of her life when she work up on February 12th. But she did know the next day, and the next, as she kept waking up to repeat the day. You see Samantha keeps dying on February 12th, and it's up to her to figure out how to break the cycle.
Review:
Samantha is the pretty popular girl everyone loves to her face and hates secretly. She and her friends are the ultimate mean girls. But as she is forced to relive the day she dies over and over again, Samantha realizes the harm that she's done in her life and tries to rectify it so that she can break the cycle she's stuck in and move on to whatever is next, even if it means her death. This was a great novel about coming to terms with ones life and making the right choices even when they are hard. Samantha is a character that you start out hating but end up really sympathizing with and liking. The ending was both sad and poignant.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 10th-11th Grade
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Hate List
by Jennifer Brown
Summary:
No one really knows what to make of Valerie. Innocent victim, hero, or accomplice in the murder of several of her classmates? It might have been her boyfriend Nick who pulled the trigger, but she was the one who lived. Now she not only has to recover from a devastating bullet wound, but also learn to make her way in a school where no one trusts her. Where everyone is recovering from losing someone they loved, but she is the one recovering from loving a killer.
Review:
School shootings are a sensitive topic, one which Hate List is able to bring up in a very powerful way. The book focuses not only on Valerie as she attempts to heal from the trauma of being shot, but intersperses it with flashbacks to the day of the shooting as she attempts to figure out where everything went so wrong. It all began with a list she made about things she hated, people who were annoying her, but spun so out of control the reader truly empathizes with her and the situation. The book is a great read which focuses on devastating consequences bullying and social seclusion can have.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Grade Level: 8-9th Grade
Summary:
No one really knows what to make of Valerie. Innocent victim, hero, or accomplice in the murder of several of her classmates? It might have been her boyfriend Nick who pulled the trigger, but she was the one who lived. Now she not only has to recover from a devastating bullet wound, but also learn to make her way in a school where no one trusts her. Where everyone is recovering from losing someone they loved, but she is the one recovering from loving a killer.
Review:
School shootings are a sensitive topic, one which Hate List is able to bring up in a very powerful way. The book focuses not only on Valerie as she attempts to heal from the trauma of being shot, but intersperses it with flashbacks to the day of the shooting as she attempts to figure out where everything went so wrong. It all began with a list she made about things she hated, people who were annoying her, but spun so out of control the reader truly empathizes with her and the situation. The book is a great read which focuses on devastating consequences bullying and social seclusion can have.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Grade Level: 8-9th Grade
Speak
by Laurie Hale Anderson
Summary:
Melinda didn't want to start freshman year as the girl everyone hates, but after calling the cops on a party at the end of the summer she has found herself to be persona non grata with everyone. No one asked her her side of the story, and even if they did she's not sure what she'd say. With no one to turn to she takes refuge in the one class she likes, art. As the year goes by she finds that the things she really needs to say she can't. But when her friend is threatened by what she experienced at that party, she realizes that the courage to speak was there all along.
Review:
Speak is a powerful book about a girl's reaction to being raped. Her confusion and shame, unwillingness to talk, and ostracism by her peers (though none of them knew about it) are all taken matter of factly by Melinda herself. What struck me the most about the book was how no one really stepped in to talk to her, how her parents left her alone and didn't question as she withdrew from everyone. How her friends turned on her after learning she had called the cops, without asking her why. But once she does tell her side of the story, everyone stands by her, realizing that she was the only one who had it right all along.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Grade Level: 9th grade
Summary:
Melinda didn't want to start freshman year as the girl everyone hates, but after calling the cops on a party at the end of the summer she has found herself to be persona non grata with everyone. No one asked her her side of the story, and even if they did she's not sure what she'd say. With no one to turn to she takes refuge in the one class she likes, art. As the year goes by she finds that the things she really needs to say she can't. But when her friend is threatened by what she experienced at that party, she realizes that the courage to speak was there all along.
Review:
Speak is a powerful book about a girl's reaction to being raped. Her confusion and shame, unwillingness to talk, and ostracism by her peers (though none of them knew about it) are all taken matter of factly by Melinda herself. What struck me the most about the book was how no one really stepped in to talk to her, how her parents left her alone and didn't question as she withdrew from everyone. How her friends turned on her after learning she had called the cops, without asking her why. But once she does tell her side of the story, everyone stands by her, realizing that she was the only one who had it right all along.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Grade Level: 9th grade
Monday, April 25, 2011
Burn
Burn
Author: Suzanne Phillips
Publisher: New York : Little, Brown and Co., 2008.
Plot Description:
Cameron’s life has never been easy. Only 14, he grew up with a physically and mentally abusive father, and now faces constant bullying every day in high school. Bullying that no adult stops, though his desire to not tell anyone about it keeps this a reality. But one day the bullying goes too far, and lights a fire of revenge in Cameron that he can’t contain anymore. The consequences of his reaction to the situation create repercussions that no one imagined.
Review:
This is one of the few books I have ever felt seriously disturbed by. Bullying is a serious situation, and books like Burn highlight not only the need to open a better dialogue but to also find better ways to deal with the situation and the aftermath. The situations which Cameron copes with, and the ultimate reaction they provoke from him, are highly disturbing in how you can see the progression and how potentially realistic it is. I would have a hard time recommending this for tweens, but at the same time can see the value of a book like this for older tweens who need to recognize the potential seriousness of these types of situations. Overall it was an incredibly powerful book which was very well written.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Reading level: 9th Grade
Similar Books: Wintergirls
Reader’s Advisory:
Personal thoughts- Disturbing but very well written
Subjects/themes- Bullying, Post Traumatic Stress, Pyromania, High School, Emotional Problems
Character names/descriptions-
Cameron- the object of bullying by many at his school
SciFi/Eliot- one of Cameron’s only friends who gets beat up simply because he is
nice to Cameron
Rich Patterson- the main aggressor against Cameron, a ‘red coat’
Pinon- the ultimate victim
Annotation: Bullying is horrific.
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