You Are Not Alone

Dear Bully

Discover how Lauren Kate transformed the feeling of that one mean girl getting under her skin into her first novel, how Lauren Oliver learned to celebrate ambiguity in her classmates and in herself, and how R.L. Stine turned being the “funny guy” into the best defense against the bullies in his class.

Today’s top authors for teens come together to share their stories about bullying—as silent observers on the sidelines of high school, as victims, and as perpetrators—in a collection at turns moving and self-effacing, but always deeply personal.

Listen to a pod cast of a panel made up of four of the contributors: Ellen Hopkins, Megan Kelley Hall,  Mo Willems and Maryrose Wood.

Jackie says:
"70 authors came together to tell their stories.  Most are about being bullied.  Some are about being the bully.  Some are about not stopping a bully or helping the bullied.  These are painful memories to be sure, but they all come to the conclusion--it get's better and you do survive and can thrive.  In the wake of so many child/teen suicides that have their roots in bullying, these authors chose to make their stand.  Here are some of the statistics that the book starts out with:

--Every 7 minutes a child is bullied on a school playground, with more than 85% of those
instances occurring without any intervention.

--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 are phsically attacked by a bully

--A child commit suicide as a direct result of being bullied once very half hour, with
19,000 bullied children attempting to commit suicide over the course of one year.
 
These writers have taken a stand.  It's time for all of us to do so as well. "

Click to listen to the NPR segment about the book.