"The Bully Book" by Eric Kahn Gale

The Bully Book, Eric Kahn Gale, HarperCollins, 2011

If you have "The Bully Book," you have all the secrets and all the rules it takes to become the leader of the 6th grade.  "The Bully Book" is a mysterious manual to becoming popular, by choosing and bullying one kid in your class, the Grunt.  Eric Haskins is the Grunt.  The story is told partially through the pages of "The Bully Book" manual and partially through the journal entries of Eric Haskins - the one being bullied.  Eric has realized that the 3 biggest kids in his class have started to pick on him for no apparent reason.  But Eric begins picking up on clues that indicate he might not be alone - he might be part of one big conspiracy ruled over by a mysterious book.  He wants to stop being the Grunt, but he must first find out what that means and who is behind "The Bully Book."

This book is extremely entertaining and fast-passed.  It is relatively short (230 pages), and written in an alternating format that will keep people reading more and more and the story develops.  It turns into a mystery, so it is really engaging and hard to put down, not to mention very humorous.  The main theme of the book is bullying, and it delves into some important issues about bullying without being depressing or violent.  It mainly deals with middle school social order and how social interactions and relations get structured and how it makes kids feel and behave.

I would teach this book in a middle school setting, probably 7th and/or 8th grade, because the reading level would be too easy for high schoolers.  I think kids could get excited about this book.  The content is appropriate, engaging, and very relevant to students.  It could generate some good discussion about bullying and social structures of school.  My only worry is that there could be some issues with misunderstanding parents or other adults who might think the book teaches kids how to bully - which it actually sortof does, but the main purpose of the book is to stop bullying and to teach what bullying can lead to.