Customer Reviews

eBully

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I purchased & read this because of another Reviewer who stated that they did not think this was a book for kids.

After reading it, I beg to differ. It seems to be written for a pre-teen reading level. Yes, it deals with some hard issues, but these are issues that our young teens are facing, so why shouldn't they read about it and make themselves aware?

Maybe by reading this book, it will allow some of these teenagers to develop some empathy for what others go through in this type of situation.

*****SPOILER - DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK -

I gave only 3 stars because I did NOT like the implications in the end.

By inferring that Carly did the ebullying to the first girl and having her show ZERO remorse, the author implies that she didn't learn her lesson even when it was done back to her. I don't mind that she was the original ebully, but having her show no remorse or empathy at all at the end just undermined the moral & morale of the entire book.

its been a while since a YA book that actually disturbed me this way. but this kinda thing does happen, internet bullying. i think the author took the subject and ran with it. now granted, it did have a few spots where things fit together too neatly, but overall it was an excellent book. i read it in one setting, and i really hope he writes a sequel.

A young boy locked away in a juvenile detention facility is hired by the vice principal of a middle school to go undercover and sniff out the identity of an internet bully on campus.

Despite the cloak and dagger setup, "eBully" is is actually a very realistic story. It's seemingly based in part on a real-life incident that took place on MySpace.

Even though children are the primary characters, I'd be hesitant to call this a kids' book. It's fairly dark and adult in nature. Still, it's a book every child - and parent - with access to the internet should read.

I will preface my review by stating that my son is, and has been, bullied for most of his elementary school life. That said, I guess as a parent of a bullied child, I compared the response of the administrator in the book (and yes, I DO realize this is a work of fiction) to life in the real world.

In this story, a young woman is receiving text messages and IMs from a cyberbully. The previous school year, a young girl resorted to a suicide attempt due to being cyberbullied. The Vice Principal vows that another student will not end up like the first girl, so takes great lengths to try to discover the culprit.

In his quest to determine the person responsible, the Vice Principal engages the aid of a young man who is currently residing in Juvenile Detention. Among his many crimes, he was caught hacking into a school's computer to change grades. Based on this, the VP thinks that he can strike a deal with the young man to come to school, posing as a student, to determine who is behind the latest round of cyberbullying.

Of course, the VP has his mind made up on who is responsible, and sets up the young man to befriend the suspect so he can prove his guilt. Only problem is, the "suspect" is far more computer-literate than the boy brought in to catch the bad guy.

In the course of the story, the suspect and the jailbird become friends and work together to unmask the culprit. They end up involving several other students in the plot, which is another large glaring "hard to swallow" development.

With all of them working together, the "bad guy" is finally unmasked, only to get away with the crime because of the lack of rules governing this type of crime. That, perhaps, is the ONLY shred of reality in the book.

To read this, one must actually believe that an administrator would not only be aware of the cyberbullying, but also that he'd be willing to get a kid out of Juvenile Detention with promises of expunging his record in payment for his help.

I doubt that there are too many schools whose administrators would even think to do this, let alone actually act upon it.

Then, of course, there is the shear number of people who are "in" on the plot. Too many people "in the know" make keeping the Jailbird's true identity and role a secret, which rather negates the whole purpose of his being there in the first place.

The cyberbullying elements are very realistic, as is the victim's response to them.

This is a topic that needs a lot more focus and books that bring it to the forefront are a good way to start. Unfortunately, I feel that the author could have done so much more to make the story more believable, as in the whole Jailbird gets out of Jail thing, and would have been a more effective book for having done so.

If you do buy this book and read the whole thing, I will tell you that the ending came as a surprise to me.

A very topical book and a pretty quick read, eBully was dedicated to but not so much based on a true story where a teen bullied on the internet eventually committed suicide.

In this story, a recent nearly fatal case of e-bullying prompted a teacher to take a very unconventional course of action to prevent another incident with a different student. This leads to a juvenile defender being brought in undercover to try to find the culprit in exchange for his freedom from the detention centre. It's a pretty common opener, but interesting to see a generational twist.

The "ex-con" character in this is probably the strongest from an adult reader's point of view as I think he may be easier to connect with. His concerns about his life and his future (at least for me) were easy to picture. Additionally, he was quite adult in his outlook through much of the book. However, the victim of the crime in progress may well appeal more to a young adult reader as the "sticks and stones" assault might not register as much with an adult.

And this is where I, as a reader, had to shift my own perceptions a little. It's very easy for me to trivialise the attack. But this is why I believe the author has chosen his intended audience well. I think a young adult is going to empathise with Carly and I believe this empathy is important to the success of the novel as it's very much a cautionary tale.

Unfortunately, I also thought there was some clumsiness in this novel and I think one of the characters said it better than I could have at the end of the novel:

"It turned out to be like a Scooby Doo episode"

It really did feel a bit like Scooby Doo with the rampant 'deputisation' that occurred amongst students and the relatives thereof. As an undercover operation it was a complete failure.

Perhaps a young adult reader is not going to have a problem with it - but it was a little far-fetched to begin with and seemed to get sillier as it progressed. Maybe that aspect of the story was actually too young even for young adult.

There were some twists and I believe they added to the interest. I did see them coming (all of them), but it didn't stop me from enjoying the ride.

Overall this is a worthwhile novel that, while being a bit too Scooby Doo for me, delivers a relevant message about the internet and the new wave of anonymous bullying amongst school children that it has unwittingly facilitated.

Let me start by telling you what E-Bully isn't. It's not about vampires or other paranormal creatures. It's not Gossip Girl, either. It's not a love story at the core. Lacking those things doesn't mean it's bad It means it's geared toward a specific niche--ya issues, and if you enjoy books like Thirteen Reasons Why, Swallowing Stones, or Speak, then this book is definitely worth the read.

As a high school teacher, one of the things I appreciated most about this novel is that the characters were well-grounded, and every part of the story was cause-and-effect based. Kids are like everyone else. If they tell you they don't know why they did something, it's probably not true. More than likely, they just don't want to tell you. All of the characters in this novel are complicated and well-developed. While the characters thoughts definitely drive them, those thoughts and motivations aren't necessary out in the open for everyone besides the reader. There are even some motivations the reader doesn't get access to, but that's not a spoiler I'm willing to give away.

As far as the subject matter goes, I really believe this is important to kids. It can be difficult enough for some teenagers to understand right and wrong in a face-to-face situation. When they hide behind the computer, it becomes so much easier to blur that distinction, and Conifer never lets you forget there are real consequences for the characters.

This is one of those subjects that you wish didn't need attention. In fact, the whole thing kind of makes you ill. I think bullying is probably one subject that nearly everyone can identify with. Whether it was in school, at home, at work or with friends, we have all known a bully or two, many of us up close and personal.

For those of us that are 30-something, our schoolyard bullies were much different. We knew their faces and we knew what the danger was. These days, bullies are faceless. They lurk in cyberspace where they feel braver. Brave enough to say and do things that we could only imagine. They don't have to face you during lunch and call you names, they can broadcast it to the entire school with a few keystrokes.

The author does a wonderful job handling such a difficult subject. He handles it in such a way that I would encourage those with teenagers to talk to your kids about the book and let them read it. There's nothing too graphic in here and it's a great young adult (middle school level) book. The only way to combat situations like this is to talk about them and talk loudly. Kids need to know that it's okay to "tell" their parents and it's NOT okay to let a bully get away with it.

The storyline flowed very well. The author didn't go off on any tangents where I felt the need to read through the pages and pull him back on track. He was able to keep the story going while still keeping the character development on point. I actually stayed up way too late one night trying to finish this one but ended up giving it up until the next day. Well worth the lost sleep though!

I'm giving this four stars, it loses a star because some of the dialogue was a bit stilted. Interestingly enough, I felt the adults were the problem. The kids seem to feel more true, but the adults - especially the vice principal seemed too rehearsed in parts. I realize the author wanted to get information to us with some of the dialogue, but it felt too forced.

Having said that, it doesn't detract from the story and I would recommend this to all middle and high school students AND their parents. In these days of every kid having a cell phone, I think it's an important subject to broach with your kids and this is a great way to start that conversation.

Note: The ending was changed in mid-October 2010. From what I read, I think it was for the better. I was completely okay with this ending, but not sure I would have been with the previous.

A very well thought out story about the challenges constant media places on our growing teens. It is not surprising to find the bully is not a peer in one case. Media makes many think they are not accountable for things they publish...and they use it to trash the most recent person to cross them, or to publish ideas and feelings previous generations would have mulled over privately in a journal for an extended period before sharing with a closest friend.

Unfortunately, there is so much bullying going on in the schools today. I don't know if it's worse than when I was in school many years ago, but it certainly is worse in the aspect that there are so many more forms of bullying going on due to the internet and social media. This is a well-written book that really shows what happens to a young girl when she is the target of bullying. I'd highly recommend this to any age reader.

This book is a quick read about a very important subject. I got sucked in and had to read until I was done. The author was very good at keeping the identity of the bully a mystery and the ending was surprising. I liked how the main characters of this book included both boys and girls. I think either would enjoy reading eBully. I think it's an important matter today and I am now letting my teenager read it.