Bully for me -- Bully for you

Today I broke the 155 page wall on my Y.A. novel-in-progress. It's a good thing too. A working editor has promised to read it when it's finished so I'd be a fool not to finish it, before he reconsiders.

The Geek Chronicles: Dear God, Help!!! Love, Earl

I recently read Barbara Parks revenge fantasy about an overweight middle school boy who defeats a bully. In some ways it's textbook bully advice. I know, as a teacher we get a fair amount of inservicing about dealing with bullies. The problem is, bullying is such a difficult problem to tackle. Intimidation and jostling for pecking order seem to be part of life, even if the things bullies do are unacceptable.

What I like about this book is that the main character is not heroic. He gets stomach aches, plays sick to avoid confrontations and needs his friends to help him stand up to the bully. The ending provides sweet revenge and assurance that with friends, even a sweet, sensitive kid can defeat a bully.

I liked this book, but not the name of the series, "The Geek Chronicles." I despise the current custom of categorizing people from a wide range of personalities as geeks. Surely not all North Americans are either 'popular types' or geeks? I wish people would be a little more specific in their descriptions of fellow human beings: whether or not those descriptions are politically correct.

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