Dear Bully
70 AUTHORS TELL THEIR STORIES
edited by
Megan Kelley Hall & Carrie Jones
Dedication
For our daughters
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Introduction - Why Do We Celebrate Bullying? by Ellen Hopkins
Dear BullyDear Bully by Laurie Faria StolarzLove Letter to My Bully by Tonya HurleyDear Audrey by Courtney SheinmelSlammed by Marlene PerezMy Apology by Marina CohenDear Samantha by Kieran Scott
Just KiddingStench by Jon ScieszkaWhat I Wanted to Tell You by Melissa SchorrSubtle Bullying by Rachel VailHiding Me by R. A. NelsonMidsummer’s Nightmare by Holly CupalaBFFBOTT.COM by Lisa McMannAn Innocent Bully by Linda GerberThe Secret by Heather BrewerThe Funny Guy by R.L. Stine
SurvivalA List by Micol OstowThere’s a Light by Saundra MitchellThe Soundtrack to My Survival by Stephanie KuehnertIf Mean Froze by Carrie JonesAbuse by Lucienne DiverThe Boy Who Won’t Leave Me Alone by A. S. Kingbreak my heart by Megan Kelley HallEnd of the World by Jessica BrodyGirl Wars by Crissa-Jean ChappellThe Curtain by Deborah Kerbel
RegretThe Eulogy of Ivy O’Conner by Sophie JordanRegret by Lisa YeeKaren by Nancy WerlinSurviving Alfalfa by Teri BrownWhen I Was a Bully, Too by Melissa WalkerCarol by Amy Goldman KossNever Shut Up by Kiersten WhiteThe Day I Followed by Eric Luper
Thank You, FriendsThe Alphabet by Laura KasischkeThey Made Me Do It and I’m Sorry by Cecil Castellucci, illustrated by Lise BernierSimplehero by Debbie RigaudIsolation by Cynthia Leitich SmithLuz by Melodye ShoreDear Caroline from Canada by Carrie RyanThe Blue-Eyed Girl by Jocelyn Maeve KelleyFrenemies Are Not Friends by Michelle Zink
InsightThe Other Side by Nancy HolderCan We Make This Letter Disappear? by Sara Bennett WealerBully on the Ledge by Kurtis ScalettaInformed Consent by Lara ZeisesSilent All These Years by Alyson NoëlNow and Then by Aprilynne PikeStrangers on a Street by Diana Rodriguez WallachObjects in Mirror Are More Complex Than They Appear by Lauren Oliver
SpeakLevels by Tanya Lee StoneSlivers of Purple Paper by Cyn BalogThe Sound of Silence by Claudia GabelStarship Suburbia by Maryrose WoodKicking Stones at the Sun by Jo KnowlesMemory Videos by Nancy GardenFinding Light in the Darkness by Lisa Schroeder
Write ItThe Sandwich Fight by Steven E. WedelFearless by Jeannine GarseeWithout Armor by Daniel WatersThe Seed by Lauren Kate
Its Gets BetterNow by Amy ReedStanding Tall by Dawn MetcalfThe Superdork of the Fifth-Grade Class of 1989 by Kristin Harmel“Who Gives the Popular People Power? Who???” by Megan McCafferty“That Kid” by Janni Lee SimnerThis Is Me by Erin DionneBullies for Me by Mo WillemsTo Carolyn Mackler, From Elizabeth in ILDear Elizabeth by Carolyn Mackler
Resources for Teens
Resources for Educators and Parents
Acknowledgments
Contributors
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher
Introduction
Why Do We Celebrate Bullying?
by Ellen Hopkins
I know bullying. Personally and through my children. In elementary school, I was smart. Sort of pretty. A talented equestrian, singer, dancer, and creative writer. I was also chubby. Not obese. Not even fat, really. But not a skinny jeans kind of girl. You know, the kid who other kids called “Elsie the cow.” Luckily, I was strong—the kid who let insults roll off her because she knew in her heart she was destined to do great things.
That strength came from my parents, who believed in me. In turn, I believe in my children. My oldest son, Jason, is gay. He knew it before I did, and so when the bullying began, he knew why. But I didn’t. Never underestimate the power of a mother bear, and I became one. At the time, bullying wasn’t new, but confronting it was. School counselors told me to leave it alone. Things would get better. They didn’t. To escape the torment in California, Jason chose to live with his father (my ex) in New Mexico.
Wy youngest child, Orion, is almost fourteen. He isn’t gay, but he is chubby. He was teased some in elementary school, but the real bullying began last year, in seventh grade. One kid was largely at the heart of it. I started hearing his name in September, when he began calling Orion gay. Why does that term, accurate or not, jumpstart abusive behavior? Over the course of the year, this kid and his friends volleyed relentless verbal attacks that eventually became physical. Orion was shoved, pushed to the ground, hit, and once had his head slammed into a locker.
This time the school had no choice but to get involved. Suspending the bully for a day or five didn’t really faze him, however. I tried calling his parents. His mother’s reaction was, “My child would never do such a thing.” But he did, and it continued until one afternoon when Orion was followed off the school bus by a friend of the bully’s—a high school senior—who grabbed Orion by the throat with both hands. Fortunately, a passerby prevented what might have been an even worse incident. I’d had enough. I called the sheriff, who sent a deputy to address the issue. The bully’s parents brought him over to apologize. This year, everything seems to be in a holding pattern.
Orion is not alone. The statistics, in fact, are staggering. From 2009 surveys we find:
• More than seventy-five percent of our students are subjected to harassment by a bully or cyberbully and experience physical, psychological, and/or emotional abuse.
• More than twenty percent of our kids admit to being a bully or participating in bullylike activities.