The Bully Book

Hey guys! You’ve probably noticed, but I’ve sorta been slacking on this blog. Sorry! (Blame the summer heat)

On the bright side, I’ve read about 10 different books over that course of time and I had plenty to choose from to blog about. So I choose The Bully Book, which had a plot I had never seen before.

The main character is Eric Haskins. He’s just your average 6th grader. Not too smart, not too stupid, not overwhelmingly good at sports, not the worst athlete, not the best writer, not the most horrible writer, not the kid who gets in trouble, not the goody goody, not the liar, not the most truthful.

So, why is he the bullies’ target? Eric is pretty sure there’s nothing special about him.

At first, Jason, Adrian, and Donovan are the main bullies. But surprisingly, the whole class joins in, except Melody, Eric’s friend and crush. And then Melody gets mad at Eric because he made a relationship status request for her on Facebook.

So Eric’s all alone. He’s hopeless.

Until he realizes there’s a much bigger conspiracy going on. One that features a person called the grunt. The targeted kid. And it’s in every grade on up, too.

Eric knows that he HAS to get help from other grunts. Or else he’s dead meat until college.

After searching, he finds out there’s a manual called The Book.

Eric desperately wants it.

Why?

The Book has instructions on how to pick the grunt. And maybe, just maybe, Eric can use those instructions to change himself so he won’t fit the position of the grunt anymore.

Eric doesn’t expect finding The Book to be simple. What he doesn’t realize, is that the formula is even more simple than hunting for it.

The Bully Book is a thrilling mystery that I would definitely read again. And the best part is that the pages of Eric’s journal are mixed into pages of The Book, so it’s like you want to scream at Eric “No!!!!!!! Don’t do that!!!!!!!!!!!!” ’cause The Book is revealing info on the grunt to YOU, not Eric.

I would give The Bully Book 5 stars and recommend it to 6th to 8th graders.

The Bridge From Me To You

Okay. So The Bridge From Me To You is about a boy named Colby and a girl named Lauren. Both high school seniors. (Correct me if I’m wrong; my mom just returned this book to the library.)

Colby is a football player whose dad is more obsessed with Colby being a great football player than Colby is. His dad and best friend want him to play football college, but Colby isn’t really interested in that. He just doesn’t know how to say “no.” I know how he feels. (About “no”, not football.)

Lauren moved in with her aunt and uncle because she called the police when she was worried that her mom would hurt her brother. Basically, her own mom kicked her out.

So, here’s what you probably think the storyline is:

Hot football star meets cute girl. Fall in love. Try not to show it. Become a couple anyway.

In a way, yeah. You’re right. But there’s more to it. When they meet each other, Colby starts to realize what he really wants for his college life and Lauren finds out if she really wants to move back in with her mom.

I think the coolest part of this story is that the author shows chapters in both characters POV. Lauren’s chapters are in poetry, and Colby’s are just like most books when they narrate. Like:

David walked over to me. “You wanna go to the park?”

“Sure.”

We got in his dented truck and drove away.

You get the idea.

Anyway, its an inspiring story, but the language wouldn’t be appropriate for a class reading book until you’re at least in 8th. But if you’re not and you still want to read it (like me!) go ahead, I guess, if your parents let you. You probably wouldn’t be interested in this story until you’re in 6th grade, though.

Also, I get the feeling most boys are not into this type of story.

I would give this book 4 stars.