Sticks and Stones

Lately whenever I hear about a book that sounds interesting - whether in an email from GoodReads or B&N, a tweet from an author I love, during a news magazine like Rock Center or from a guest on The Daily Show - I immediately just add it to my library reservation list. I don't usually do much additional research like reading reviews or in some cases even looking up what it's about. I just search the title on the library website, add it to my list and wait for it to arrive. Of course, this is how I ended up picking up seven books at the library last night, but that's a story for another day.

My method of reserving it all leads to a good number of misses, books that end up not really being all that appealing, but sometimes it ends with me finding something great that I never would have sought out, like Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy.

The author, Emily Bazelon, is a reporter for Slate and her research for articles lead her to so much information and so many stories, it grew into a book. She strikes a really good balance between storytelling and presenting research and facts. She talks to bullies and kids who have been bullied. She talks to parents, teachers, school administrators, guidance counselors, law enforcement, elected officials and a lot of academics who have focused their careers on understanding the causes behind bullying and figuring out how to prevent it.

The book was eye opening for me and I'm not a parent or teacher. If you are either of those things - especially one who has/works with tweens or teens, I'd say this is a must read.