Dear Bully

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“Dear Bully” is definitely not your stereotypical book about childhood bullying.

With Unity Day, a day in which bullying awareness is placed in the spotlight, having taken place on Oct. 23, the NPHS Library offered a selection of books on the topic of bullying. While viewing the catalog, I became intrigued by a book called “Dear Bully,” which is an anthology of anecdotal stories from 70 different authors about childhood bullying.

Needless to say, I became absorbed in it almost immediately.

The main reason that “Dear Bully” excels at capturing the reader’s attention is because of its layout. Each of the 70 authors featured share their own personal experiences, allowing each story to be covered in such detail that would not have been possible as a fictional story written by a single author. Every story is different, which showcases how bullying happens to many people from different places.

Additionally, since each author has a different writing style, I never got bored while reading this book. Some authors chose to go for a more humorous spin on, while others were extremely serious, going so far as to call out their childhood bullies and say where they are now. Some authors even used poetry for their short story. The broad range of stylistic choices highlighted the different factors of their experiences. 

However, the most important part of “Dear Bully” is its informational value. The book offers perspectives on bullying not just from the ones being bullied, but also from the bullies themselves. It really opened my eyes to hear about the horrific experiences that some of the authors had with bullying, making me realize that there must be so many more people that are keeping their stories to themselves. A common realization for many of the authors featured in this collection of stories was that they were not alone. They saw that they were many others just like themselves, and only when they became close with those people did the bullying stop.

Overall, “Dear Bully” is an extremely rewarding book that is worth the read. It offers rarely seen perspectives on bullying in a way that keeps it interesting for readers throughout the entire book. 

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