Dear Bully
Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Storiesedited by Megan Kelley Hall & Carrie JonesThere is no need to paste a goodreads summary on here. This book speaks for itself. I am so proud of Megan Kelley Hall for wanting to do something in regards to bullying. She and Carrie Jones have created a brilliant book full of emotional, poignant stories about bullying.The 70 authors in this book have shared their stories, some heartbreaking, others more uplifting. I will admit to being slightly scared to start reading the book. Bullying is something a little too close to home for me and I didn't want to face the emotions that would ride to the surface as I read.Thankfully, this anthology wasn't as devastating as I thought it would be (to me). In fact, I found the more I read, the stronger I felt. Not all of the personal bullying stories hit me as hard because they weren't as similar to my own. Therefore I found Dear Bully a lot easier to digest than I thought I would. In fact, these other stories, though painful and sad made me feel better. They showed that I wasn't alone in what I went through as a child and that no matter the age or situation, bullying can happen. It's not a personal thing against you, it's sadly just the way the world turns.Also, the fact that the people sharing their stories are all well-known, published authors, the book had a distinctly "It Gets Better" feel to it. Here are 70 or so people who were bullies AND SURVIVED. They are successful. Their traumatic bullying experiences made them who they are today.Here's the thing, had I read this book when I was a kid, a teen, I would have been caught between "I can't believe I'm not the only one going through this. Wow." and an eye-rolling "Whatever, this book isn't going to help stop what's happening to me". I know this is how I would react, because deep down there was a tiny voice rolling its eyes (yes, my tiny voice has eyes) and saying that exact same thing.Standing up for yourself isn't always going to work. Certainly not right away. There is a complete hopelessness when you are the victim of bullying. Sometimes you have to actually just physically leave the situation behind. No amount of standing up, teaching talking, parent talking helped in my case. It only stopped when I left the school and started a new one. Only there was bullying there, too. There will always be bullies. Often you get better at dealing with it. As you get older and are less inclined to care about what people think about you, you become stronger and it's easier to walk away from the bully. In my own life right now, bullies are shining through and you know what? I don't have patience for them anymore. I don't. So I fight back, but this time I am smarter about it. I research and know my resources so that they don't have any leverage on me. You tell me if I don't do something that I won't get paid? Well, lookee here at this charter of rights that says I don't have to do what you're telling me to do. Oh, and look at this hotline number to report people who are trying to make you do things you don't have to do? Booyah.Er, right....So, when I found out that Megan wanted to put together a book that brought attention to bullying, I was beyond thrilled. My own personal childhood experiences made the idea of this book mean so much to me. The book itself? Means the world to me.There will always be teachers and parents who turn a blind eye. There will always be people out there who think they can bully others just because they can. If more people realized it was cooler to group together and stand up to them, that makes the difference.This book not only allows authors to share their stories, but it also lists many references at the end for help and advice if you think you have nowhere to turn. People, young and old, need to read this book and educate themselves on the subject. More people need to care and take a stand.A huge thank you to Megan and Carrie for caring enough to put this together. A huge thank you to all authors who shared their stories by prose, verse or drawing. It's a very powerful book that will have you thinking about what you can do to help.Children shouldn't die because they can't take the abuse. It should not happen. I was almost one of them and right now, as I write this, I am thankful that I wasn't successful.Buy your own copy! AmazonUS
