It might be a shove in the hallway, a verbal taunt during lunch, an individual being cruelly excluded or ignored, or an offensive text message. Bullying continues to be an emotionally, physically, and psychologically devastating problem for children and teens, and an important issue for parents and school staff, particularly at the middle school level.

The Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2011, a report published by the National Center for Education Statistics, states that in 2009, 39 percent of sixth graders reported being bullied at school, with the number dropping only slightly for seventh and eighth graders.  A survey from the Cyberbullying Resarch Center done in 2007 shows that 43 percent of middle-school students polled indicated that they had experienced cyberbullying (an upsetting email, IM, or MySpace posting). Geared toward this age group and including both fiction and nonfiction, these books address the issue of bullying in a variety of ways, providing information, offering the comfort of knowing that others are facing similar challenges, and presenting strategies for surviving. Booktalk them and recommend them to teachers to share with their students to increase awareness and empathy, initiate discussion, and begin to bring about change.

Fiction

Bully. By Patricia Polacco. illus. by author. Putnam. 2012. Trade $17.99. ISBN 978-0-399-25704-9.

Gr 4-6–Two sixth-graders, both new to their school, become best buddies, but when Lyla is invited into the popular clique, the three girls pressure her to end her friendship with Jamie (“OMG, he is such a blimp”). After they post a spiteful photo on the boy’s Facebook page, Lyla finally has enough and cuts ties, but queen bee Gage has a plan for revenge, and only Jamie can save the day. Polacco pairs an accessible narrative with dynamic illustrations to depict a realistic middle-school milieu. Read this picture book aloud to launch conversation about the harmful effects of cyberbullying.

The Bully Book. By Eric Kahn Gale. HarperCollins/Harper. 2013. Trade $16.99. ISBN 978-0-06-22511-8; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-06-212515-6.

Gr 5-7–Average-guy Eric Haskins suddenly finds himself the target of an elaborate bullying scheme that eventually encompasses his entire sixth-grade class and turns even long-time friends against him. Desperate to discover why he has been singled out as “the Grunt,” he becomes obsessed with tracking down a book rumored to have the answers. Eric’s journal entries candidly reveal the emotional fall-out of being victimized while his efforts to solve the mystery propel the action forward. Pages from “The Bully Book,” a ruthless kid-written manual on how to rule the school, add a chilling glimpse into a bully’s mindset and methods. Eric will win over readers with his resiliency, and what he ultimately learns–about himself and others–is empowering. Harrowing, riveting, and compellingly discussable.

Bystander. By James Preller. Feiwel and Friends. 2009. Trade $16.99. ISBN 978-0-312-37906-3; pap. $7.99. ISBN 978-0-312-54796-7; eBook $7.99. ISBN 9781429954969.

Gr 6-9–The new kid in school, seventh-grader Eric Hayes is relieved when a popular and charismatic classmate strikes up a friendship, and at first looks the other way when Griffin bullies another boy. Gradually realizing that his silence makes him an accomplice, Eric summons the courage to take a stand, only to become the next victim. Combining well-developed characters with a keen understanding of the middle-school social strata, Preller makes Eric’s experiences painfully real and thoroughly believable.

Hokey Pokey. By Jerry Spinelli. Knopf. 2013. Trade $15.99. ISBN 978-0-375-83198-0; Library Edition $18.99. ISBN 978-0-375-93198-7; eBook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-307-97570-6.

Gr 5-7–This mesmerizing coming-of-age tale is set in a daydreamy world in which kids do as they please and adults are nowhere to be found. Jack, looked up to by all from the tiniest Snotsippers to the top-of-the-heap Big Kids, awakens one morning and just knows that something’s different. He spends one last epic day revisiting his favorite places and pastimes, redefining relationships, putting a bully in his place, and preparing to bid farewell to Hokey Pokey. Inventive, insightful, and bedazzling, this novel presents a potent look at how kids interact with one another, mature, and change.

Slob. By Ellen Potter. Philomel. 2009. Trade $16.99. ISBN 978-0-399-24705-7; ebook $13.99. ISBN 9781101050811.

Gr 6-8–Overweight and genius-smart, seventh-grader Owen is the bully magnet at his progressive New York City school, taunted by classmates, persecuted by a sadistic P.E. teacher, and now the victim of a lunch-sack Oreo thief. Not only is he determined to catch the cookie snatcher, but he’s also hard at work inventing a TV time-machine that will re-play the details of the tragic day his parents were murdered two years earlier. As events unfold and mysteries are slowly solved, Owen learns things about himself–and the bully he most fears–that will change his life forever. Wise and witty, Owen’s first-person narrative is packed with heartache and humor.

The Truth about Truman School. By Dori Hillestad Bulter. Albert Whitman. 2008. Trade $15.99.  ISBN 978-0-8075-8095-0; pap. $7.99. ISBN 978-0-8075-8096-7.

Gr 5-8–Feeling that the content of the school newspaper is being censored by the faculty advisor, eighth-grader Zebby Bower and her friend Amr Nasir launch an underground website and invite submissions, hoping to provide a forum where students can discuss the truth about their school. However, when a popular girl becomes the target of malicious anonymous posts, things escalate out of control. Accessibly told in the alternating voices of the parties involved, this fast-paced expose takes a timely look at the insidious nature of cyberbullying.

Warp Speed. By Lisa Yee. Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine. 2011. Trade $16.99. ISBN 978-0-545-12276-4.

Gr 5-9–Self-admitted sci-fi nerd and AV Club “geekazoid” Marley Sandelski spends much of seventh grade either ignored by the popular group or dogged by punch-throwing homework-grabbing goons. However, when his ability to outrun bullies catches the eye of the track coach, and he actually wins a race, his new and unexpected position at the top of the social heap leads to revelations about himself and his number-one tormentor. Told with plenty of humor (and entertaining Star Trek references), this fast-moving tale features true-life situations and characters and sends a powerful message about empathy.

Nonfiction

Girls against Girls: Why We Are Mean to Each Other and How We Can Change. By Bonnie Burton.  Zest. 2011. pap. $12.99. ISBN 978-0-970173-6-0.

Gr 6-10—Fast-reading chapters outline the reasons behind mean-girl behaviors, describe different types of “relational aggression” (malicious gossiping, social shunning, verbal abuse, etc.), provide easy-to-implement strategies for coping, and offer empowering methods to break the cycle of meanness and bring about change. Written in a chatty and encouraging tone, the well-researched text addresses readers directly and presents a plethora of useful tips, important resources, and positive solutions.

Teen Cyberbullying Investigated: Where Do Your Rights End and Consequences Begin? By Tom Jacobs. Free Spirit. 2010. pap. $15.99. ISBN 978-1-57542-339-5.

Gr 7 Up—From creating a website containing personal attacks on school faculty, to posting fake profiles online, to using a cell phone to send nude photos, Judge Jacobs introduces landmark court cases involving tweens and teens engaged in cyberbullying. Accessibly written chapters present the facts, provide perspective on both victims and perpetrators, and prompt kids to think about how they would decide the case. Real-world experiences and consequences are clearly delineated, making readers aware of their rights and ascertaining why it’s never been more important “to think before you click.”

We Want You to Know: Kids Talk about Bullying. By Deborah Ellis. Coteau. 2010. Trade $21.95. ISBN 978-1-55050-417-0; pap. $14.95. ISBN 978-15-5050-4637.

Gr 5-9—Ellis presents interviews with young people between the ages of 9 and 19 who talk candidly about their experiences as victims, perpetrators, and bystanders. The straightforward first-person narratives tell it like it is, often shockingly, and the accounts are intimate, eye-opening, and surprisingly hope-filled. Black-and-white photos put faces to names, and “What Do You Think?” questions follow each piece. Additional quotes from kids around the world demonstrate the global nature of this issue. An excellent choice for group discussion.

The reversal comes in response to a lawsuit filed by The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in November on behalf of a parent in the district.

According to the Tribune, the decision to restrict the book’s access was met with feedback from parents in the district as well as groups around the country, many of whom protested the decision and others who praised it, saying the book was not appropriate for young children and promoted homosexuality.

The book, In Our Mothers’ House (Philomel, 2009) by award-winning author Patricia Polacco, was relocated behind the desks of librarians in schools serving K-6 students in Utah’s Davis School District. The book is about three adopted children of differing ethnic backgrounds and their lesbian mothers.

Children in the district must present written parental permission to see the book, according to a 26-page complaint filed by the ACLU and the ACLU of Utah Foundation on November 13.

The Davis School District claims that the book violates Utah state laws banning support of homosexuality in instructional materials supplied by schools.

“[T]he District’s primary justification for removing the book from the shelves is that, by telling the story of children raised by same-sex parents, the book constitutes ‘advocacy of homosexuality,’ in purported violation of Utah’s sex-education laws,” according to the complaint.

The ACLU maintains that removing the book violates students’ first-amendment rights.

“The Supreme Court has been very clear that schools cannot remove books from the shelf simply because they disagree with their viewpoints,” Leslie Cooper, senior staff attorney at the ACLU LGBT Rights and AIDS Project, told SLJ. “This case is about students’ rights to books in the library.”

“This is not about instructional materials. It is a book on the library shelf,” Cooper said. “A book that depicts a family headed by a gay couple hardly advocates a gay family lifestyle.”

The ACLU is filing the proposed class-action suit on behalf of the two children of Davis School District mother Tina Weber, along with the other nearly 3,000 students in the district.

“I was shocked when I heard that a handful of parents had made a decision about whether everyone else’s kids could have access to this book,” Weber said, according to an ACLU press release. “Our job as parents is to make sure we teach our children about our values. We can do that without imposing our personal views on the rest of the school community.”

How the case evolved

The flap over the book started in January, when a kindergarten student at Utah’s Windridge Elementary School brought Polacco’s book home and the child’s parent objected to it. The parent filled out a form requesting that the book be removed from the library.

As recounted in a June SLJ article, the book was moved from the K-2 section to the 3-6 grade section following a January 27 meeting of the Windridge School Library Media Committee.

The parent, along with 25 others, then appealed to the District Library Media Committee, filling out complaint forms asking again that the book be removed. The group provided statements claiming that the book contains “propaganda, because it puts forth an idea, then makes it look attractive and normal” and that “the author is wanting us to accept homosexuality as a norm,” among other objections, according to the complaint.

On April 30, the District Library Media Committee voted to have the book put behind librarians’ desks in all district schools.

ACLU’s Cooper says, “The removal of the book was deferring to other parents’ decisions about what their children can read.”

According to a Salt Lake Tribune story published on June 1, school librarians were later being told to remove other books touching on gay and lesbian themes.

A web page on the Davis School District site states that “The Davis District Library Media Policies are undergoing review at this time.” A previous school library policy statement was recently removed from the site, according to the complaint.

Utah librarians respond

“It appeared to us that the Davis School District followed the procedures that they had in place,” said Shelly Ripplinger, president of the Utah Educational Library Media Association (UELMA). “As an organization, we support all school libraries having a selection policy and a reconsideration policy.”

“School libraries serve a different function than public libraries,” Ripplinger added. “Our purpose is to support the curriculum, so with our limited budget we have to focus on supporting the curriculum and leisure reading.”

Chris Williams, community relations director of the  Davis School District, was not available for comment at press time.

On November 14, the day after the lawsuit was filed, The Utah Library Association (ULA) posted a new  Statement on Intellectual Freedom on its website.

A video of parents reading Polacco’s book aloud at a Salt Lake City library appears on the ULA Intellectual Freedom Committee portion of the site. The video was created as part of the 2012 50 State Salute to Banned Books Week (September 30-October 6) organized by the American Library Association (ALA).

In Our Mothers’ House classifies as a banned book, said Wanda Mae Huffaker, ULA Intellectual Freedom Committee Chair. “Being placed behind the desk falls into the definition of being banned” because the book is “not accessible to everyone.”

“Few banned books stay banned,” Huffaker observed. “Most of the time librarians are able to get books back on the shelves. We librarians are good at what we do.”

Polacco, the author of more than 85 books for young people, explained in an October 5 article for the ACLU blog during Banned Books Week that she wrote In Our Mothers’ House after witnessing a fourth grade girl with lesbian parents and adopted siblings being told by an aide that “you don’t come from a real family.”

Elections around the world: ePals World Elections Center is intended to help students learn about global election processes, candidates, and issues by involving them in a wide range of interactive activities. The site, featuring projects and activities for whole-class and independent learning, includes videos on the recent French presidential inauguration, the 2012 Venezuelan presidential candidates, the U.S. Republican and Democratic Conventions, and more. In “Students Speak,” users can share their thoughts through their writing and artwork. Students can also make and upload a Presidential Minute” video in which they address their country’s leader with their concerns and advice. There’s a section where users can check out videos that were previously uploaded concerning past elections.  In the “Teachers’ Corner,” educators can find “Election Projects” such as “Romney–Obama Presidential Election” and “What Are Constitutional Governments?”

Kids can also research and share information about their country’s candidates with each other. In addition, there’s an international focus with fact pages for countries that have had or will have presidential elections in 2012, including the U.S., the Russian Federation, Taiwan, Mexico, Slovenia, Gabon, South Korea, France, Sierra Leone, and Venezuela. This section includes materials focusing on each country’s political structure, such as its form of government, election processes, terms of office, voting regulations, and more. Among the games available are “On the Road to the White House,” “Win the White House,”  “Get the House in Order–The United Kingdom,” “History Challenge Australia,” and many more.

“Every teacher understands the power of the teachable moment,” says Nina Zolt, ePals co-founder and chief learning officer. “The World Elections Center provides a terrific opportunity for students around the globe to explore, communicate with peers, and generally become involved in 2012 elections and issues around the world that will have a direct impact on their futures.”

Tell Me a Story

Literacy initiative: Storyline Online is a free streaming video site where members of the Screen Actor Guild (SAG) read children’s books with the goal of promoting literacy and inspiring the love of reading. Annette Bening is the latest volunteer actor to lend her talents to this project. She reads Avi Slodovinick’s The Tooth (Kane/Miller, 2010) while the illustrations by Manon Gauthier are scanned, with some animation added. In the story, a little girl goes to the dentist to have her tooth extracted and notices a homeless man on the street. When she leaves the dentist’s office, she gives him her tooth and tells him to put it under his pillow.

For each book, there are downloadable supplemental activities to strengthen comprehension and verbal and written skills. To date, there are 25 books in the program, each read by a different actor. They include Betty White narrating Gene Zion’s Harry, the Dirty Dog (Harper, 1956), James Earl Jones reading Evelyn Coleman’s To Be a Drum (Albert Whitman & Company, 1998), and Jane Kaczmarek reading Thank You, Mr. Falker (Philomel, 1998) by Patricia Polacco.

A committee of seven teachers, administrators, and parents from Utah’s Davis School District voted 6-1 to segregate In Our Mothers’ House (Philomel, 2009), described in an SLJ review as a “gem of a book” that illustrates how love makes a family, even if it’s not a traditional one.

“It’s still in the library, it’s just placed behind the counter,” says Chris Williams, a district spokesperson. “If a child hands in a permission slip they can still read it.”

The decision to restrict access to Polacco’s story-about a black girl who describes how her two Caucasian mothers, Marmee and Meema, adopted her, her Asian brother, and her red-headed sister-has raised concerns from the library community and anticensorship organizations, with the Utah Library Association (ULA) holding a meeting Monday afternoon to discuss the situation, says Anna Neatrour, ULA’s executive director.

While news reports have stated that other gay-themed books are being eyed for removal, including Justin Richardson’s and Peter Parnell’s And Tango Makes Three (S & S, 2005) and James Howe’s Totally Joe (Atheneum, 2007), Williams says the district hasn’t received any challenges against the titles, nor has it requested that other books be pulled. And Tango Makes Three topped the American Library Association’s Most Frequently Challenged Books in 2010.

“We haven’t asked librarians to put together a list, and we haven’t put together a list,” he explains.

The removal of In Our Mothers’ House from general circulation stemmed from a complaint in January by the mother of a kindergarten student who checked the book out from her school library and brought it home. In Our Mothers’ House was originally shelved in library’s K-2 section, says Williams, but following the complaint, a school committee moved the book to an area for 3rd to 6th graders.

The parent, however, wasn’t satisfied with that decision, adds Williams, so she and 24 others each filled out reconsideration of library materials forms-the minimum number of complaints needed for a district library committee to take up the matter. That group voted to relocate the book in all district elementary school libraries, and it will not reconsider returning the book to the general stacks for three years, explains Williams.

“In their mind, they looked at the age appropriateness of the book,” he says. “They didn’t look at [Polacco's] past works, and they didn’t look at content.”

Polacco, who has written dozens of children’s books, says her inspiration for the book came from a Texas girl who wanted to read an essay about her family and same-sex parents but was told by a teacher that she couldn’t because she wasn’t from “a real family.”

SLJ‘s review of the book reads, “The story serves as a model of inclusiveness for children who have same-sex parents, as well as for children who may have questions about a “different” family in their neighborhood. A lovely book that can help youngsters better understand their world.”

Interview requests with the Utah Educational Library Media Association, which represents a portion of school librarians in the state, were not granted by press time.