Patty Lovell

Despite her small stature, buck-toothed smile, croaky voice (like that of a bull-frog), and tendency toward clumsiness, Molly Lou Melon was a happy, well-adjusted, self-confident little girl. After all, her Grandma has always instructed her to walk proudly, smile big, sing out clear and strong, and believe in herself. But when she moved to a new town, leaving her old school and friends behind, she found that her idiosyncrasies had made her a target for the school bully, Ronald Durkin. show more Fortunately, Molly Lou had a few tricks up her sleeve, and wasn't about to allow anyone to make her a victim...

A book that seems to have won almost universal accolades from other reviewers (so many five and four-star ratings!), Molly Lou Melon was a story that I liked more in theory, and for what the author was obviously trying to accomplish, than in reality. I agree wholeheartedly with the idea that self-confidence is an important value to instill in children, and that standing up to bullies is something that should be encouraged, but something about the way this story was formulated just didn't sit well with me, the first time I read through it. Thinking about it now, and having read it again, I realize that the issue here is the implication, however unintentional, that children can solve the problem of bullying by having a "good" attitude. It's that old chestnut, "ignore it and it will go away," but in slightly different form: "be positive and proactive, and it will change."

I think that this idea - that our attitude can effect the outcome of events, and convince others to change their behavior - is certainly true in some cases. And I can see some children finding Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon very empowering. But for others, for the victims of chronic bullying and teasing (or of other kinds of abuse), this story simply doesn't ring true. I know, because I was one such child, and I can still vividly recall the experience of being ridiculed every single day at school, of being called various ugly names at least twenty times before I could go home, simply because I was too muscular "for a girl." (Apparently, girls shouldn't have more muscles than boys, even in early years when they are on different developmental tracks, and boy was I made to pay for not having the "right" body-type!) Nothing I did - ignoring the situation, answering back - in any way helped, and I simply wasn't equipped, personality-wise, to be be able to "win" peers over to my side. I've never been the passive type, so I always stood up for myself, and, being terribly proud, I made sure that all my crying was done in private. But in the end, it didn't help. Nothing did.

What's funny is that one of my teachers, who saw some of this unfold, commented, a few years afterword, that it had seemed to him that I handled myself very well (meaning that I had always stood up for myself). I think he was trying to compliment me on my "positive attitude," although perhaps he was just offering what comfort he could (hey, at least you didn't just accept it, right?), after the fact. In any case, I remember thinking at the time that addressing oneself to the victim's attitude is a terribly inadequate means of dealing with bullying. There's something almost cruel about stories like this, I think, in which a real and pressing problem is so easily dealt with. Not only will the child who is enduring this kind of treatment not find a real strategy for dealing with it, but they will also gain the impression (again, however unintentionally given) that if they were somehow different - if they had a better attitude, or a more positive self-image - they could stop this from happening.

Useful, perhaps, as a means of promoting good self-image, or as a story about light teasing, Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon is utterly inadequate, in my view, when it comes to the issue of serious bullying. show less

I have long been a fan of Molly Lou Melon, who is plucky and interesting and all that one hopes a child can be. I also love me a picturebook that is pro-imagination, so I am totally delighted with this new Molly Lou Melon offering. The thing that delights me most of all is that it took me most of the book to realize that new neighbor Gertie is a disabled child -- because that never matters to Molly Lou Melon, any more than it should matter to us.

I so adored Speak Up, Molly Lou Melon that I had to come back for more! Sure, I love author Patty Lovell’s tale of the pint-sized powerhouse with a heart of gold, but it’s illustrator David Catrow who steals the show again in this sequel. I just about lost it in the scene with the tiny Molly Lou struggles with a yellow backpack bigger than she is! How I love this book!

Molly Lou’s mom reminds her that “You have a strong voice. Use it to speak up for anyone who might need your help.” show more And she does — over and over. And she sure puts that bully Bettina Bonklehead in her place — in the nicest way possible, in typical Molly Lou fashion. I wish every child everywhere could be Molly Lou Melon, and you will, too. One of those books that children and their grownups will equally treasure. show less

Molly Lou Melon may be tiny, clumsy, buck-toothed, and with a voice "like a bullfrog being squeezed by a boa constrictor," but she doesn't mind. Her grandmother has utmost confidence in her, and tells her at every turn to believe in herself. "Sing out clear and strong and the world will cry tears of joy," Grandma says. But Molly Lou's self-assurance is put to the test when she moves to a new town, away from her friends and beloved grandmother. During her first week of school, Ronald Durkin show more taunts Molly Lou Melon in the dull-witted but sharp-edged manner of career bullies, calling her "shrimpo" and "bucky-toothed beaver." Our heroine barely flinches as she systematically sets out to prove herself, and Ronald Durkin ends up feeling pretty foolish. show less