When Randolph Turned Rotten

Author & Illustrator:   Charise Mericle Harper
Publisher:  Alfred A. Knopf
Publication Year:   2007
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Publisher's Weekly starred review, Junior Library Guild selection

Summary:  Two friends Randolph and Ivy are roommates. Ivy gets invited to a sleepover birthday party, but Randolph feels left out that he didn't get invited. Randolph gets mad and starts to hope that Ivy has a horrible time. His insides turn horrible, rotten, awful, and icky; and he does mean things to ruin Ivy's party. Then he starts to feel guilty. Meanwhile, Ivy accidentally locks the party-goers out of the house, but Randolph's "mean" additions to her bag end up saving the day. When Ivy gets home, Randolph apologizes and Ivy shares her stories of the beach party. The comic strip type illustrations are wonderful with details that kids will want to pour over.

Classroom Ideas: This book can be used to show how feelings become actions- it would be a great book for a guidance counselor or a teacher to use when talking about bullying.  Randolph is an excellent character to talk about.

Bully

Author & Illustrator:   Patricia Polacco
Publisher:  G. P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Year:   2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Halls

Awards:   Author Study of Polacco

Summary:  Lyla makes a friend Jamie on her first day at her new school, but soon she becomes a cheerleader with the popular girls. She gets a Junior Achievement Award and a Spirit Award and they ask her to hang out with them. They make fun of Jamie, and Lyla pretends not to like him anymore. The girls write mean things on other people's Facebook pages and Lyla starts to distance herself from them. But disaster strikes when Lyla gets accused of stealing the state tests ahead of time and people start spreading rumors about her. Then Jamie admits that he saw one of the popular girls steal the test and Lyla's name is cleared. But the popular kids still hate Lyla and the story ends with a question: "Should Jamie and I go back to school, hope for the best? Or should we go to another? What would you do?"

Classroom Ideas:This book would be a great resource for a guidance counselor or teacher to talk about bullying.