Letters to a Bullied Girl: Messages of Healing and Hope
By Regan McMahon,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Heartfelt letters to cyberbullied teen inspire compassion.
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What's the Story?
Two sisters in Marin County, CA, read a newspaper story about a girl named Olivia whose life was ruined by cyberbullying. Singled out as \"different\" after she had a seizure at her middle school, she was taunted by classmates who dragged her backpack through the mud, wore \"I Hate Olivia\" bracelets, and created an \"Olivia Haters\" web page on MySpace. The sisters were so moved after they read about this that they mobilized a letter-writing campaign called \"Olivia's Letters,\" asking people to write to her at a P.O. box they set up and let her know she is not alone and not to give up hope. Their goal was to get 50 letters form their high school and neighboring schools. After a month they had 500. After some media attention, more than 4,000 poured in. The book presents a selection of them, written by people of all ages from all over the country -- some former bullies themselves-- who share their personal stories of pain, resilience, and hope.
Is It Any Good?
This is a profound testament to compassion of the two teenage sisters who started the letter-writing campaign, the kindness of strangers, and a substantive expose of how hurtful bullying can be. Most striking are the letters from older people who clearly still feel the sting of of schoolyard harassment decades later. A foreword clearly and succinctly explains the different types of bullying, the psychological motivation behind the cruel behavior, and the roles of each person in the bullying dynamic: the target, the bully, and the bystander.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what it feels like to be bullied, and what to do if one sees someone being bullied to not be a bystander but to stand up for what's right. Check out our article Bullying is Everybody's Business to see how everyone plays a role when bullying occcurs.
Olivia experienced cyberbullying when her classmates created an "Olivia Haters" website. What other ways do kids cyberbully people? Has it every happened to you? Is it as bad or worse than regular in-person bullying? (Check out 5 Things to Know About Cyberbullying and our Digital Harassment Tips.)
What was it in the letters Olivia got from strangers that gave her hope and made her feel better? What do you think was the main message she got from them?
Book Details
- Authors: Olivia Gardner , Emily Buder , Sarah Buder
- Genre: Emotions
- Book type: Non-Fiction
- Publisher: Harper
- Publication date: August 5, 2008
- Number of pages: 201
- Last updated: October 11, 2015
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