Rising Above in a Memoir

Well, apparently I got myself onto a "books with a message" streak, because here is another book with something important to say. Let's see the stats for Please Stop Laughing at Me.
Author: Jodee Blanco
Publisher: Adams Media
Date: 2003
My start date: 4/26/10
My finish date: 4/28/10

In this straight forward memoir, Jodee Blanco takes the reader on a journey through her child- and young adulthood to share her experiences as a victim of bullying. Like I said, I must be all about messages right now, but this is another really good one. Having taught in the public schools, I have seen only too well the results of bullying and peer harassment on a student. While I was fortunate never to encounter a situation as extreme as Blanco's, it doesn't take such extremity to really stay with a child. Having been picked on and bullied myself (again, not anywhere close to the extent that Blanco was), I can vouch firsthand at how deeply those scars run.

This book is great for a variety of different people. Parents, first and foremost, should read this. If you have a child, go buy this book now. It doesn't matter if you think your child is ok and not at risk, go buy it anyway. Too often, as evidenced in this book, parents write these situations off as simple childish behavior and completely harmless. Wrong. Take your kid seriously! Or worse, you don't know what your child isn't telling you. While most parents are stumped as to why a child wouldn't just come tell them if they were being troubled, Blanco shows exactly why your child might not always be telling you what is going on. Finally, and worst of all, your child might be the bully. This is not ok.

I would also recommend this to young adults. Just as above, children who have been bullied can find a voice and some comfort from Blanco's experiences, and those kids who might think that bullying is normal and a great way to fit in with the cool crowd might be shocked into realizing just how inappropriate this behavior is.

Finally, maybe you aren't a parent (or at least not a parent of a young adult) and you aren't a kid, but you are just looking for a good story of overcoming life's hurdles, this book is for you too. It comes complete with that requisite feel good ending.

I can't comment overly much on style or characters or anything of that nature here. This is a memoir, so the characters are what they are. Of course, there is always the question of how the author selects what he or she wants to include and in this way guides the reaction of the reader. For her project, which is of course, to discourage bullying and give hope to victims of bullying, I think Blanco has done a nice job of compiling her story. She references her habit of diary keeping on several occasions, from which one presumes she has extracted the material, making the thoroughness of her memory less questionable. She tells her story in a straightforward way without adding too much unnecessary speculation. Overall, I think it gets the point across nicely.

I don't really have much else to say on this one, except to once again recommend it for all parents!

I still have one more book to catch up on, as well as my current read. Look for at least one of those tomorrow. I am looking forward to writing about one of my favorite new series from C.A. Belmond. Check back for it!

That's it for now! Keep reading!
Sarah