Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #92171 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 472 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781933771298
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
An entertainment industry publicist before becoming an antibullying crusader, Blanco (Please Stop Laughing at Me) was a victim of bullying from fifth grade through high school. For Blanco, bullying is a broad term-it's not "just the mean things you do, it's all the nice things you never do." For her, even the Columbine shootings were a result of students marginalized by bullying. She offers many stories of tearful children who have been the subject of abuse, and offers her own advice to thwart and/or deal with bullying, but in the end, she doesn't truly persuade readers that her remedies are effective. As an "Adult Survivor of Peer Abuse," her personal experience gives her all the insight she thinks she needs-it's only "clinical experts" who need theories and evidence ("there are clinical experts who might scoff at me for trying to give comfort and guidance"). She retells frequently the story of how she overcame-and forgave-her own bullies at her 20th high school reunion. Her former tormentors just seem to have decided to accept her after 20 years: a happy ending, but hardly a winning strategy for a troubled teen today. Blanco tells readers she has counseled countless students, victims and bullies alike, and while her stories are dramatic, neither the dialogue nor the instant results seem authentic. Readers looking for advice based on concrete fieldwork should turn to Wiseman's Queen Bees and Wannabes. (Mar.)
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From Booklist
Blanco bared her soul in her memoir, Please Stop Laughing at Me (2003), delving into the years of abuse she suffered as a teen at the hands of high-school bullies. Here, she chronicles her efforts as a youth advocate and public speaker. After her first book hits the New York Times best-seller list, Blanco finds herself in demand at schools who want to bring her in as a speaker to help them combat bullying. Blanco does more than give moving presentations at the schools she visits; she takes the time to meet with students, teachers, and parents one-on-one to give them advice on their individual situations. In addition to recounting her efforts at the schools she visits, Blanco also reveals the struggles she faces in her personal life: the toll of reliving her painful past, her newfound friendships with her former high-school tormentors, and her burgeoning relationship with a former classmate. Essential reading for teens, parents, and educators, Blanco’s second outing is as engaging as it is eye-opening. --Kristine Huntley

Review

Customer Reviews

A fascinating story told in a frustratingly slipshod way
After writing her bestselling work Please Stop Laughing At Me...: One Woman's Inspirational Story, former publicist Jodee Blanco jotted down a kind of 'post-memoir memoir', an update on her life experiences after that book hit it big. This book follows her life story as she tries to tell people about her experiences in any way she can- speaking to student bodies, teachers, customers at Border's shops, and so on. The title is very apt since this book extends the personal experiences in her previous one more broadly. She comes up with various terms and ideas about bullying that, even as a layman, she pitches to educators and to parents.

For the average reader (without much of a background in the issues), the book appears to be a mixed bag, but an interesting one. It mashes together incoherently very dull slice-of-life moments, frequent 'flashbacks' to the previous book, ideological prognosticating about what the American school system gets wrong, a constant stream-of-consciousness narrative, and horrifying stories about bullied/bullying kids that she meets. It found it extremely hard not to skip ahead all the time, even though I knew that I would probably miss out on a notable insight that Blanco makes.

The lack of an organized, clear writing comes up all the time. For example, Blanco mentions how she sometimes dreads hanging out with the people who used to bully her. She writes how, say, X person was the inspiration for person Y in the last book, but she never spells out what names are fictional and which are not- only dropping opaque references here and there. It's annoying reading about something she says to 'Clark' and then having to wonder: "Is this 'Clark' the same as that other guy from her first book? Is this 'Clark' the one that made that remark just a few pages ago?"

Blanco spends a great deal discussing her storybook romance with Mitch, the troubled popular kid that she liked from the last book. While it makes sense for her to write about something so important in her life, she seems to go on and on about this in a way that makes you think that you're reading a 12-year-old's diary. She also brings up religious references suddenly and then leaves those hanging, which leaves the reader thinking: "If your Christian faith is the glue keeping your life together, why aren't you talking about it in any detail?" She also makes up terms as she goes along, such as 'Ancient Child' and 'Elite Tormentor', that she frustratingly refuses to explain with real, factual references. There's a gigantic body of work out there in the media and in the academic world about explaining bullying; Blanco chooses to ignore this. As well, she's leaving out so much. What about children who don't identify as the "sages beyond their years" "persecuted for being different" and are bullied, don't they matter? Don't they deserve sympathy? Blanco does not even think of it. She gives her sympathy to goths, obese kids, gay kids, the disabled, and so on while ignoring that ordinary, average-type kids can bleed too.

Ultimately, I would still recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject. However, they should not be expecting something that's either an extension of her first books.

Inspirational Story--Practical Advice Regarding Bullying
This is her second book dealing with how she recovered from all the bullying and went to talk at schools around the country to help other kids who were being bullied and help the bullies to stop. Also addressed parents and teachers. Her advice includes telling the bullied kids to stand up for themselves in a nonviolent way, find friends outside of school even if it means going outside of their school district. Parents should not just send kid for counseling but go with them. Parents need to support their kids and let the kids talk about their problems. Try to come up with an action together that will help the situation. This book has a great message and offers practical help to both the bullied kids and their parents and teachers. It tells how the kids who used to pick on her in school are now her friends and she even married the most popular guy in school that all the girls liked which gives much hope to those going through the same thing. Great book!

I recommend this book for all teachers and anyone who is being bullied relentlessly to see there is hope.

A Remarkable Woman
I hated to see this book end. It was like talking to my new best friend. Finally, somebody got it right telling the story of being bullied. I admire Jodee. The work she is doing is so important! I just LOVED this book and hope you write another.

Be sure to read the emails and letters at the end of this book. They are sad, but good to know people now have someone to turn to--Jodee!