cover image Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories

Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories

Edited by Megan Kelley Hall and Carrie Jones. HarperTeen, $16.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-06-206098-3; $9.99 trade paper ISBN 978-0-06-206097-6

This well-meaning anthology sprang from a Facebook page created by YA novelists Hall and Jones in response to the bullying and subsequent suicide of 15-year-old Massachusetts student Phoebe Prince in January 2010. Hoping to connect with teens suffering from abuse, 70 writers, including Alyson No%C3%ABl, Carrie Ryan, Jon Scieszka, Mo Willems, and Lisa Yee, share short stories, poems, and essays that look at bullying from every angle. Heather Brewer recounts her pain at repeated jeers she received about family tragedies that ought to have inspired sympathy. R.L. Stine reveals how being a "funny guy" got him into trouble with bullies (but also out of it). Multiple authors express regret over failing to act while someone else was bullied; ineffectual guidance from adults ("just ignore it") is another refrain. It's not necessary (or perhaps even healthy) to read the entire anthology%E2%80%94there's a sameness to the stories that actually diminishes their power%E2%80%94to understand how widespread a problem bullying is. A companion Web site (www.dearbully.com) offers additional author submissions and resources. A portion of the book's proceeds will benefit a national antibullying organization. Ages 12%E2%80%93up. (Sept.)