A Cut Too Far

Bullies and the bullied take to social media with scary results in one of five titles kicking off the Suspended series, written at a fourth-grade reading level. For years, Chace has endured taunting for his jaw deformity and crooked teeth, largely at the hands of class bully Ivan. But when Ivan targets Chace’s mother’s Iranian-American boyfriend, Tahir, calling him a Muslim terrorist, Chace snaps. The battle escalates via fake website profiles, and Chace’s ultimate retaliation—a violent online threat—gets him suspended, among other consequences. The briskly moving story spotlights the powerful ripple effect of cyberbullying, and Chace’s own change of heart suggests one form of positive resolution for an increasingly prevalent and troubling problem. Simultaneously available: The Confessional, High Drama, Over the Tracks, and Testing the Truth. Ages 11–up. (Sept.)