My Secret Bully

Author: Trudy Ludwig http://trudyludwig.com/
Publisher: Tricycle Press
Date of Publication: 2004
Illustrator: Abigail Marble http://abigailmarble.com/
Genre Designation: Fiction
Lexile: AD630L

My Secret Bully

Summary:

This book is about Monica and her best friend Katie they have been friends since Kindergarten. The friendship started out strong and quickly became unhealthy. Katie started leaving Monica out and she felt Katie was replacing her. When they would hang out one on one Katie was fine, but the minute they got to school Katie would ignore her. Eventually Monica confronted Katie and it became evident that they were no longer friends. Monica was upset that she allowed herself to be treated that poorly for so long. Monica eventually moved on and was able to find new friends.

Target Audience:

The subject matter in this book is specialized for a certain type of bullying called "relational aggression." The book defines relational aggression as, "act of emotional bullying hidden among tightly knit networks of friends."It could be used for grades 2-5. While this type of bullying typically affects girls, boys have been known to experience it as well. 

Evaluation:

The subject matter in this book it tough to talk about. It is a specialized type of bullying rarely talked about and hard to recognize. This book is used to educate and help raise awareness. The goal of a book like this is that the child reads it and spends some time thinking about circumstances where this could have occurred. 

Reader Response Activity:

The book has a section in the back called opportunity for discussion. I really think this should be read and discussed as a class. The implications of this type of bullying are serious and the scariest part is how hard it is to detect if it is not reported. I think I would start with each student completing the answers to the questions anonymously. The answers should be compile, shared and discussed.