We Want You to Know :Kids Talk About Bullying by Deborah Ellis Published by Coteau Books Review by Donna Gudjonson $14.95 ISBN 978-1-55050-463-7 All of us have experienced some form of bullying at some time in our lives. Recently this problem has come under the spotlight with cyber-bullying being blamed for several suicides of young people. Internationally acclaimed author Deborah Ellis has compiled the stories of students between the ages of nine and nineteen and gives an in-depth insight into this problem. The stories are candid and give voice to what is really happening in schools to our kids. Each story describes the experience of the person being bullied, how they felt, and what they did to cope. At the end of each story there are discussion questions to promote awareness and empathy. As I read the stories I was drawn back to my own childhood memories of being bullied and excluded by my cousin. We were close in age and in the same grade all through school in a small town. On many occasions she coerced the other girls to shun me. When I finally talked to my mother about it she helped me to find a solution. I…
Fight for Justice by Lori Saigeon Published by Coteau Books Review by Shanna Mann $7.95 ISBN 978-1-55050-405-7 Fight for Justice, a middle years novel by Regina author and inner-city elementary teacher Lori Saigeon, is unique in giving authentic voice to bullying in urban schools and vividly portraying bullying behavior as a precursor for gang involvement. It was easy to sympathize with Justice’s motivations; his machismo, his responsibility as man of the house and his need to protect his twin sister Charity. Students and adults will identify with his slippery slope of bad decisions that leads to his isolation from the protection of adults and further vulnerability to the bullies. But Justice isn’t stupid. He asks for advice, he studies the adults around them and assesses their behavior. How will they react if he tells them about being bullied? Will they do something dumb (from his perspective) like simply tell Trey to stop it? With maturity and clarity, Justice assesses the people in his life and puts them into categories. Are they his allies, does he protect himself from them, or is he their protector? Lori Saigeon is deadly accurate in her portrayal of not only the instigation and escalation, but…
Fight for Justice by Lori Saigeon Published by Coteau Books Review by Ryan Melnyk $7.95 ISBN: 978-1-55050-405-7 School for a child can be one of the most terrifying places he or she might go. In the case of Justice, the main character of Fight for Justice, every corner is one worth worrying about. We all know that school is full of bullies and it is said that if you just mind your own business, no one will bother you. However, the modern bully in an elementary school these days has changed; it is now rare that one will do anything wrong without a group of people to help conceal his or her actions and torment the victim. They also do not resort to physical conflict without reason because they know more trouble will come if the victim had been physically hurt. Even the appearance of bullies today is different; you might think that the biggest kid on the playground is the one who picks on everyone. Bullying today is often mental abuse and even spiritual abuse. Bullies are good at finding kids’ weak points. Fighting for Justice deals with every kind of bullying children might face in the early years…