The Book Report: Books about ‘Bullying’

'Books' by Paula Slade

Today’s edition of “The Book Report” focuses on books that are written specifically for children and teens and tackle the difficult subject of “bullying,” which has become an epidemic in our society.

In an oft-quoted article, “School Bullying Statistics - The ABCs of Harassment”, the statistics, which were gathered in 2009 as part of a national survey on bullying are astounding:

“Over 75% of our students are subjected to harassment by a bully or Cyber-Bully and experience physical, psychological and/or emotional abuse.

Over 20% of our kids admit to being a bully or participating in bully-like activities.

Over one-half of bullying and Cyber-Bullying events go unreported to authorities or parents.

Over 100,000 children carried guns to school as a result of being bullied.

28% of students who carry weapons in school have witnessed violence in their homes.

On a daily average, 160,000 children miss school because they fear they will be bullied if they attend classes.

On a monthly average, 282,000 students are physically attacked by a bully each month.

Every seven minutes, a child is bullied on a school playground, with over 85% of those instances occurring without any intervention.

46% of males and 26% of females admit to having been involved in physical fights as a result of being bullied.

Over 85% of our teenagers say that revenge as an aftermath of being bullied is the leading cause for school shootings and homicide.

The top 5 states in regards to reported incidents of bullying and Cyber-Bullying are California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Washington.”

And the most disturbing statistic of all: “ A child commits suicide (as a direct result of being bullied) once every half hour, with 19,000 bullied children attempting to commit suicide over the course of one year.”

It doesn’t have to be that way. There are many fine written resources for parents, caregivers, teachers and school administrators such as Barbara Coloroso’s, The Bully, the Bullied and the Bystander, and Sameer Hinduja and Justin W. Patchin’s, Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding to Cyberbullying; both books fully enlighten and provide strategies for adults whose children are experiencing bullying on many levels.

The three books and the app that are featured below, provide the same valuable information and strategies as the adult-level books, but are geared directly to young people who are dealing with the difficult dynamics of bullying on a day-to-day basis. By sharing these excellent reads with the young person in your life, you’ll be offering tools and understanding that will indeed help them.

Each of these books and app are targeted for specific age ranges and are presented with different approaches using fiction, a mix of fiction and non-fiction, and non-fiction alone.

A brief overview of these highly recommended books along with pricing information has been provided for your convenience. 

To explore each title further or for ordering information, simply follow the highlighted link.

The Great Snowball Escapade written and illustrated by J.D. Holiday

This 90-page chapter book, geared for early readers age six to eight, is the fictional story of 7-year-old Wilhelmina (“Wil”) Brooks and the trials of dealing with her bullying cousin Bud Dunphry, when he comes to live in Wil’s household.

The book subtly teaches and instills the important foundations of cooperation, trust, empathy and friendship.

Best pricing for the paperback edition of The Great Snowball Escapade is available through Amazon.com for $5.99 or the Kindle edition for $3.99. The Nook edition is also available for $3.99 at Barnes and Noble.

Be Confident in Who You Are (Book I from the Middle School Confidential Series) by Annie Fox, M. Ed

A fiction/non-fiction blend presented in appealing graphic novel format for children in the all-important transitional “tween” years ages 11 to 14.

All the books in this series take young readers into the world of six middle school students, Jack, Jen, Mateo, Abby, Chris, and Michelle as they navigate some of life’s hardest lessons covering friendships, bullying, self esteem and family dynamics.

Along with engaging character narratives, the books provide quizzes and quotes from real kids, plus practical tips, tools and resources that children can effectively employ in their lives. Take a look at the book trailer video that is embedded below.

Best available Paperback pricing for Be Confident Who You Are (Middle School Confidential Series Book I) is through Free Spirit Publishing at $6.49 or through Amazon Marketplace beginning at $5.47. Amazon.com also offers the Kindle edition for $7.99. 

Be Confident in Who You Are is now also available for iPad or iPad 2 with (iPhone and iPod versions coming soon). Requires iOS 4.0 or later (iOS 4.3 tested) 30.4 MB.

As a 49-page digital graphic novel it offers sound effects, music, interactive features, zooming in-and-out, auto-save, “Special Meet the Cast Pages” , and is available at iTunes for only $3.99.

 

Dear Bully: Seventy Authors Tell Their Stories

Young adults need a totally different approach, and from Harper Teen, comes a brand new 352-page paperback anthology, Dear Bully: Seventy Authors Tell Their Story presented by Megan Kelley Hall and Carrie Jones.

This unique book provides teens with first hand accounts from the voices of experience - 70 admired authors sharing and uniting in a common bond in the retelling of their own true life stories about bullying, and the effects that it had on their lives.

Pre-orders of Dear Bully: Seventy Authors Tell Their Stories are being taken by Amazon.com where the paperback edition is being offered for $9.99 and will ship on the August 23, 2011 release date. There is also a Kindle Edition for $8.99 and Hardcover for $11.21.

Barnes and Noble has best price for the Paperback Edition at $9.49 or Nook delivery for $8.99.