Bully by Patricia Polacco

Polacco, P. (2012). Bully. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Bullying.  This is a topic that runs rampant through any school no matter where you located today.  We see the detrimental effects it has on children today and sometimes have no control over what our students are doing.  In Polacco’s Bully, this topic is approached head on telling the story of Lyla.  Lyla is a brand new student in a middle school, where right away she meets a nice young man Jamie.  Soon the pressures of being a preteen sets in where the popular crowd begins to influence Lyla.   Lyla is exposed to their horrible behavior and first hand witnesses outright bullying.

She wants no part of it.

This then makes her a victim of bullying herself, having her name dragged through the mud all over social media.  Nobody will talk to her, they all think she is a liar, because those same popular students sought out to destroy her. 

Will Lyla be okay?  Read Bully to find out.

This book would mostly be enjoyed by students in the grade range 4-8^th grade.

Bully is a very important story to share with a classroom, especially in middle school where bullying starts to peak.  Teachers tend to shy away from the seriousness of bullying and how it can destroy someone’s life. Polacco does a great job introducing the topic in a setting where it could already be true.  Bullying is one of those controversial topics, especially from a teacher’s perspective, where some educators still struggle with wondering if they should step in.  Reading Lyla’s story could inspire other students or educators want to be a part of the resistance.

What’s inside?

Dialogue:  Although this is a picture book, Polacco uses plenty of dialogue to have the characters interact.

“No one dumps us, Lyla.  We do the dumping”

Theme: Polacco  is known for taking on controversial social justice issues in her picture books, and we see that same theme in Bully.

Encompassing such a theme that is so close to home to students of that age range is so important.  This can help students know that we know that they aren’t alone, and we know that they may be going through something very difficult.

Foreshadowing:  

When Lyla comes into her new school and starts meeting new people, she sees the popular crowd already beginning trends of bullying.   Lyla can see that these girls are not being nice humans, so then we can only foresee that once she becomes friends with them that is it only going to end poorly. 

The illustrations portray each character with respect to who they are within the story.  They are also interestingly drawn and definitely eye catching.

How can we teach this?

Using theme in writing is very important, especially in middle school.  This is a perfect time to introduce the topic, using sample stories of extreme cases of bullying and how important it is to be kind.  Students can write responses to this story explaining how social media can exacerbate bullying and make it easier to bully.  If they would like to share personal experiences or opinions on bullying, allow them to do so.  Then the second half is how can we be the change to help end bullying?