If there's one good outgrowth of the Colorado shootings, it's the recent attention paid to bullying. Having been bullied as a child, and having watched children be bullied and bully, I'm glad this childhood issue isn't being shrugged off so easily. There several great new books ready to come to the rescue of a hurting child.
Julia Donaldson's The Gruffalo (Dial, $15.99; ages 4-7) is a bully's tale in animal guise. The hero is a small mouse who is threatened by a fox, owl, and snake. He vanquishes them all by predicting the arrival of the dangerous Gruffalo, a beast with "terrible tusks, and terrible claws, and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws." In a surprise twist, the mouse runs into the very beast he's invented for his defense. The story is told with rhythm, rhyme, and fanciful illustrations that will appeal to small children. Older children will appreciate the plot twists, irony and the mouse's modeling even the largest bullies can be outwitted by courageous small opponents.
Helen Lester's Hooway for Wodney Wat (Houghton Mifflin, $15.00; ages 5-8) has a hero with a problem. Rodney, a small rat, is plagued by schoolmates who find great amusement in teasing him because he has a hard time pronouncing r's. These bullies wind up on the receiving end with the arrival of a new student, the oversized female bully, Camilla Capybara. She boasts and then proves that she's bigger, meaner, and smarter than any of them. Rodney is terrified when he's selected to lead Simon Says, but his speech deviations turn into difficulties for the unknowing Camilla who responds to his commands by weeding a sign until she's exhausted and whapping her paws around her head until she's punchy. Rodney's voice and sense of self grow stronger and so does the appreciation of his classmates who welcome Camilla's fwustwated depawtuwe.
What happens when two bullies meet? There's a light look at this predicament in Junko Morimoto's retelling, The Two Bullies (Crown, $17.00; ages 5-8). Ni-ou believes he's the strongest man in Japan, but when he hears he's equaled by a man in China called Dokkoi, he's determined to do battle. Through silly circumstance, each believes he's met the match of a lifetime, and both flee, relieved that they don't have to prove their prowess. This folk tale has great under-messages of the fear that runs bullies.
Bullies can change and one does in Sharleen Collicott's Toestomper and the Caterpillars (Houghton Mifflin, $15.00; ages 5-9). Toestomper prides himself on being mean, disgusting, and rude until he meets a mass of small "fuzzies". Slowly he becomes their defender, rejects his past friends and attitudes, and is rewarded with their devotion. Collicott's illustrations add warmth to the story and children will love Toestomper's rude comments.
Wesley, the bullied hero of Paul Fleischman's Weslandia (Candlewick, $15.99; ages 7-10) has "no friends, but plenty of tormentors. Fleeing them was the only sport he was good at." Though his parents are concerned, Wesley cares less especially when he begins a civilization of his own. When a strange eight-petaled plant sprouts in his backyard, Wesley eats its fruit and roots, makes clothes from its fiber, invents a new number system, and discovers games and inventions until "he has no shortage of friends." A noble lesson handled with humor and ingenuity...if you can't beat them, lead them!
Howard, a small boy with big problems, is the hero of Carol Sonenklar's short novel, Might Boy (Orchard, $15.95; ages 7-10) is . Howard, who has moved to New York City from California, uncomfortable in the city setting already, becomes the target of the largest bully in the fourth grade. Howard escapes into a fantasy life where he's comforted daily by the television exploits of superhero, Mighty Boy. When Howard wins a guest appearance on the show and the two get lost in the woods, he discovers Mighty Boy's true identity. The star is only a boy who misses having a normal life and Howard, with his survival and kindness skills, becomes a hero and a true friend. His bravery and the attention of the press earn him the respect of classmates and he finds the confidence to stand up for himself.
Susan Butler's The Hermit Thrush Sings (DK Ink, $16.95; ages 10 and up) has a futuristic setting where an entire society is bullied. Those who have a difference are in the worst trouble. Leora's webbed-hand make her a "defective" and she fears she'll be removed to the Institute. Not that her life is all that happy. She lives, lonely and unloved, with her uncaring stepmother and stepsister, and can't stop missing her father and sister who have disappeared in the forbidden Outside. Continually bullied by classmates, relatives, and family, Leora seeks comfort friendship with a birmba, a creature she's been taught to fear her entire life. Suddenly the tales she's heard seem false and she flees her home. Outside, she discovers her hand allows her to communicate with the flora and fauna, and she has inherited her Grand Nan's gift of seeing. Finding family, friends, those of like spirit, Leora unites a kingdom that desperately needs release from the bullying forces which control it.
One of the most fascinating young adult novels I read this year is a book about a girl who bullies herself. Janet Tashjian's Multiple Choice (Henry Holt,$16.95; ages 11 and up) is about a brilliant girl who's obsessive compulsive. Monica Devon is a whiz at puzzles, and she's smart enough to notice that "98.762 percent of my time is spent obsessing". To release herself and bring spontaneity to her life, she comes up with a frightening plan. She will react to situations depending on which scrabble letter she draws from a bag. "A" means she'll make a normal choice, "B" means a plain dumb choice, a "C" will lead her to decision completely out of character, and "D" will motivate a charitable or sacrificial action. Suddenly Monica is trapped in her game and the risks become more and more dangerous until they are life-threatening. A believable and sad story of a girl's attempt to free herself from herself.
Shifting from summer to school is always hard. It's even more difficult when children have a fear - - and the worst fear of all is bullying which can haunt students of all ages. Six recent books provide comfort for children from three to young adult.
Early bullying is the focus of Tracey Pearson's Myrtle (FSG, $15.00; 3-6). Myrtle, a mouse heroine, is secure in the love of her parents and her young brother until Frances moves in next door. Frances, a ball-snatching, name-calling, threat frightens Myrtle until she hides in her closet. Myrtle's eccentric Aunt Tizzy returns from Africa to save the day, telling of her confrontation with mean lions when she roared back, sang and danced in the face of their fierceness and her own fear. Myrtle and her brother do the same and their absorbing fun defeats Frances. Without discounting the intensity of Myrtle's feelings, or the seriousness of the problem, Pearson wisely uses whimsical illustrations and brings in an adult to dispel darkness and deliver good advice with a playful touch.
Karen Beaumont provides name-calling defense in I Like Myself (HBJ, $16.00; ages 3-6). Beaumont's unfailingly cheerful metered rhymes and ultra silly situations paired with David Catrow's comic illustrations escape what could have been a saccharine self-esteem story. The big-haired, floppy-eared, oddly-dressed heroine has absurd imaginings that will inspire giggles and all these are aided by Catrow's wild pictures of her with "knobby knees, or hippo hips, or purple polka-dotted lips, or beaver breath or stinky toes or horns protruding from my nose." This book has a hidden message and a practical solution -- humor and playfulness make for the kind of strong self-image that defeats bullying.
There's humor for slightly older children in Wendelin Van Draanen's novella Shredderman (Knopf, 12.95; ages 7-10) Draanen, known for her spirited YA Sam Keyes mystery series, now turns to a younger audience, a new genre and invents an appealing hero. Puny Nolan "Nerd" Byrd is the primary target of bully Alvin "Bubba" Bixby who "was born big and mean, full of teeth and ready to bite". Bubba has given all his classmates cruel nicknames, gets away with lying, cheating and stealing and no adult can stop him. Nolan comes up with a complicated plan to destroy this bully, adopting the secret identity, "Shredderman". By the story's end, Nolan gets his name back and feels stronger, smarter and braver "like a superhero should". Short page count, illustrations by Brian Biggs, a fast-moving plot, and an intriguing method to solve the age-old bully problem make for book success.
Sue Stauffacher's Donuthead (Knopf, $15.95, ages 8-11) is for a slightly older reader. She still uses a light tone, but the issues are deeper. The hero is Franklin Delano Donuthead who remarks, "Try saying that in a room full of fifth graders if you think names will never hurt you." Donuthead is phobic about everything. A field trip to a farm makes him wonder if he'll be crushed by a moving tractor, or trapped in a hay silo and suffocated.
His problems worsen when he first comes under attack from the unkempt, bullying Sarah Kervick and then she becomes his defender. When Donuthead's single mother becomes concerned with caring for Sarah, jealousy and possessiveness add to Donuthead's problems. Unlike many of the victims of bullying, Donuthead is his worst enemy. The way he limits and controls his own life are far worse than any external threat and it's finally his understanding of Sarah's difficulties that releases him from his own stranglehold. The witty writing may speak to an audience more mature than the one likely to pick up this book.
Two new novels for young adults are no laughing matter. Both are taut with the tension that comes from bullying! Walter Dean Myers' Shooter (HarperTempest, $15.99; ages 11 and up) was written in response to the horrifying incidents at Columbine and gives a frightening portrayal of how bullying can push someone over the edge. The book is told through documents, reports, interviews, newspaper clippings, and finally a journal left behind by sixteen-year-old Leonard Gray, a suicidal teenager who carries out this fictional attack.
Our sympathies are clearly with the two young adults who were Len's friends, Cameron Porter and Carla Evans. Both are bullied with Len and also bullied by him. Cameron Porter is a middle-class black teenager who doesn't feel he fits in at home, or at school. When Cameron begins to hang out with Len, they are singled out and called "The usual names. Faggots. Pussies. They started slapping us around. Not hard. Just to show that they could."
According to Cameron, Carla "hung out" and "went dark" with Len, "moving away from all those light things that seem to get some people through their day." Carla's interview tells of struggles with her dependent family and Len's betrayal of her secrets. Most horrifying is Len's diary. His brilliance and mental illness are just as obvious as the torment he suffered and planned.
Myers does away with niceties and peels right down to the raw realities of bullying and how it leads to madness and violence. The voices of his characters are poignant in their unabashed honesty as they negotiate the manipulative questions of interviewers in a dialogue that tells the plot as well as the emotional story of what it's like to suffer in the hands of bullies.
Graham Gardner's Inventing Elliot (Dial, $16.99; ages 11 and up) begins with a powerful prologue in which Elliot remembers a fight when his blazer is ripped until it hangs "like a dead tongue", and waits for punches to fall knowing "You can't hurt me. I'm dead already."
When Elliot begins at a new school, he decides to reinvent himself and follows careful rules: staying unnoticed, assuming a pretense of toughness, and hoping. Miraculously, he gets "noticed in the right way" and begins to play the role of top dog for all he's worth. All the time, he's torn apart inside as he watches others being bullied, forms a satisfying friendship he must hide, and finally is chosen to be a "Guardian", a secret band that determines who will be punished, by whom and how. The author's use of italics to voice these conflicted feelings works well to show the intensifying inner battles and the tension of feeling trapped by an unavoidable situation.
Each of these books, whether through humor, or intensity, can provide comfort for readers and an opportunity for parents to open conversations about this oppressive and frightening situation.