Dave Conifer

eBully is a very quick read; I read this book in one day. It's a great book, that I very quickly got sucked into. I felt for the main character & her pain, and often relived my own, painful, tormented childhood, and wondered what anguish I might have gone through if I was a teenager today, instead of in the late 80's/early 90's, before anyone had heard of this thing called an internet. I admit, I didn't know who the eBully was until 3/4ths of the way through the book, which was wonderful because usually I figure out the "mystery" way too quickly (both in books & movies, which is why I don't often read mysteries). The heartbreak that everyone feels when the ebully is discovered & they realize that the person won't be punished felt very believable & real to me. And then there's a wonderful twist at the end that I absolutely HATED, but it's that you-love-to-hate-it vibe. And I hated how the book ended, but it worked so incredibly well, and was very well written.

The only reason why I gave this book four stars, instead of five, was I felt a few things were a little bit of a stretch of the imagination. I can't really see teenage boys acting quite as mature as they are portrayed in the book, not to mention what are the odds that all of these seeming coincidences that happen, all would really happen in such a manner? (I know, I'm very vague, but I'm trying not to give spoilers because the book is really excellent, but if I explained what I meant, I would completely ruin the book).

Great book, one definitely worth reading & discussing.… (plus d'informations)

This book was ok.

This book is about a girl Carly being bullied through the internet and text messages. Embarrassing pictures of her were also send to cell phones to everyone in her school. Carly became depressed. The Vice principal of the school recruited/hired Scott who is basically lives in a juvie type center and is a kid criminal. Scott is hired to go undercover in Carly's school to catch the bully in exchanged for a clean slate. A few other kids get involved to help Scott.

I think this book is a case of a good idea that was not executed that well. For me the age of the teenagers makes everything a bit unrealistic. Everyone is 13 years old. Its just unrealistic. A vice principal HIRES a juvenile delinquent to go UNDERCOVER in his school to find a bully and no one cares. I mean really? And in exchange the THIRTEEN year old boy gets a FREE CLEAN SLATE that no one seems to know where or why he gets it? It just doesn't make sense. I mean if the teens were older or if an actual I don't know COP was put undercover then it'd make more sense. It just seemed like the deal that was made between the vice principal and Scott was like a deal made with a murderer and the D.A. Oh and not to mention the fact that the vice principle even said that he's not sure what he's doing is legal. So its not legal and an ADMINISTRATOR of a school building with children in it is allowing and hell even seeking this out. Um no. I just think that this is something that should have been considered by the author.

There characters were ok. You don;t really learn too much about them aside from the personalities that show when you just meet people. Scott is the bad boy with a record and is generally a nice guty. Tom is the weird nerdy computer whiz. Lisa is Carly's best friend who is the popular pretty cheerleader type girl. Carly is the all around the nice girl next door type who is getting bullied. Basic school stereotypes. I didn't hate any of the characters but I didn't love any of them either.

The ending was cray though. Not crazy action or anything but crazy as in who was bullying Carly and why. Also the very end is something unexpected. I didn't like how the book ended because you get this unexpected thing and then bam it just ends. I was like really? There is also no sequel to the book so it just ends with lots of questions.

I do appreciate the author writing about such a big thing that is going on in schools which is bullying and this story may be good for kids who are 12 or 13 to learn about bullying.

This review is also posted on Spantalian's Book Reviews… (plus d'informations)