My Secret Bully

I like this book because I think it is more realistic than most books that revolve around bullying. A lot of books send the message that if you stand up to a bully they go away. This is not always the case. In this story, the bully is actually Monica's friend. Monica does not face Katie alone, but instead tells an adult she trusts, her mom. I really liked the situation posed in this story because often the bullies that kids face are in their own group of friends. It can become tough to tell the difference and understand how a good friendship should be. I think this sends an important message to children.

I really enjoyed this book for three main reasons. I like this book because of the moral of the story. The moral of the story was bullying. Bullying can come from anyone, even your friends and that was the case for Monica in the book. Monica had a lifelong friend in school with here named Katie. Monica started to notice that Katie was secretly bullying her. The bullying got to the point were Monica wanted nothing to do with Katie. Monica started to get belly pain from be bullied. Finally, with a little encouragement, Monica confronted Katie and Katie knew she was in the wrong. Monica realized that Katie really was not her friend, but a bully. This is a great lesson for students to learn at an early age. Bullying someone can cause that show more person a great deal of pain. It is hurtful to be mean and no one deserves it. Also, you should talk to someone about you being bullied and confront the bully about it even if it is your friend. If your friend is bullying you, then really they are not your friend at all and you should lose that friend like Monica did. Another reason I liked this book was because it shows that your parents can tell when something is wrong with you and you are able to talk to them about anything. Monica's Mother noticed that Monica was not doing her homework and could tell that something was wrong. Finally Monica confessed to her Mother about Katie and the mother gave great advice to Monica. Parents are the most trustworthy people in the world and you can tell them anything. Lastly, I loved the illustrations because you could see Monica and feel like you were in her shoes. You could see Monica confronting Katie. All the expression and detail put into the illustrations were great. You can see the happiness and sadness from facial expressions and body posture. You could actually see and feel the pain in Monica. People should not be bullying people or their peers. it is extremely hurtful and mean. If you are being bullied, then you should talk to your parents or an adult your trust to get the help needed to solve the problem. show less

I really liked this book. In fact, it was one of the best Children’s book I have read in a while. To begin with, there is so much emotion in the book that makes the reader, such as myself, emotional. While I was reading I would say “aw” or “that’s so sad”, etc. It hurts me knowing that Monica was hurting in the story. “Mom says that there are some problems in life that aren’t easily solved and this is one of them. But it helps to know that I’m not alone. I found out that a lot of other kids have had this happen to them—even my mom when she was a kid! But that doesn’t make it right. And that doesn’t mean this is the way it has to be.” This quote from the book is very deep and insightful and also shares the show more lesson that the book is trying to reach out and teach, which is another reason why I liked the book so much. The book is about bullying and being hurt, and not being you, like Monica was feeling. It was about friendship and emphasized how real friends would not bully you or make you feel unwanted. “Real friends respect your feelings and work things out with you when you have problems. Real friends like you just the way you are.” Lastly, I liked this book because in the end there were a couple pages from the author with resources on making a difference and stopping bullying. There was a page of helpful suggestions on what a target of bullying can do, such as telling the bully to stop, or using humor to deflect the bullying. There was also additional resources and bullying websites for those who need them. The overall main idea of this book is about bullying and friendship. show less

Summary: Monica and Katie have been close friends since kindergarten. But even though they've been friends for a long time, Katie begins to secretly bully Monica. She humiliates her, calls her names, excludes her, and manipulates her. Monica starts to feel depressed and isolated so she talks with her mom about what Katie is doing. With her mother's support, Monica stands up to Katie.

Reflection: This book focuses on emotional bullying and shows that it can be as harmful as physical aggression, with devastating, long-term effects. This story really draws readers into Monica's world where she is bullied by a friend and learns how to cope and thrive.

While the book had a really good message and one that students need to learn about, I don't think this was a particularly good execution. It was almost too obvious for a children's book. While children need to learn that bullying, whether obvious or "secret" like the bully in this story, is not okay, I just really didn't like the way this story was written. The book is told in the first person from the point of view of Monica and how she deals with the feelings of being bullied by Katie. While she doesn't understand what is happening the beginning of the story, she begins to realize that the way Katie is treating her isn't fair and it isn't her fault, especially when she has a good conversation with her mother. The reader gets to hear show more first-hand about Monica's roller coaster of emotions that young students can probably understand and relate to.
I really didn't like the illustrations. They were sloppy and disproportionate. I wouldn’t use this particular book to teach about bullies, but it does have some good notes and references to other books in the back, so it would be a good resource. show less

This is a great read for young and old alike. This book tells the story of a young girl whose longtime friend begins to bully her and turn others against her. After going through a period of bewilderment and hurt by the friend's actions, the little girl discusses the problem with her mother. She is given the tools to diffuse and cope with the situation.

Katie was Monica's best friend. She was nice when they played alone, but started to bully her when they were with their peers. It was emotional and got to a breaking point where she had a talk with her mom about what to do. Her mom and her agreed that this was not her fault, and it was not "just the way girls are, so you better get used to it." Monica and her mom came up with strategies to stand up for herself without bullying Katie back.