Please Stop Laughing At Me
By Jodee Blanco
Jodee Blanco
This is Jodee Blanco as an adult holding Please Stop Laughing At Me
Cover
This is the cover of Jodee's novel.
Quote
This is my favorite quote of the whole novel.
Summary
Please Stop Laughing at Me is a novel by, Jodee Blanco. Please Stop Laughing At Me is an autobiography, which is on the subject of school bullying. Everyone wants to fit in; everyone wants to be liked; and everyone wants to be apart of the "popular crowd". No one wants to go to school to be put down, excluded, and/or hurt physically and emotionally. But this was Jodee, and this book is her lifelong story which has helped millions of people from all walks of life. School life for Jodee was good, up until fifth grade, that was when all of the bullying started. Jodee's parents felt as though that Jodee was depressed and they took her to Dr. Jack Graff, who is a psychologist. Jodee moved to a new school, Northwest Junior High. The bullying continued. Jodee was verbally, emotionally, and physically harassed by her so called "best friends"; everyday on the bus and at school. Soon, many others in school joined in on the harassment. A.J, Jacklyn and so many others, attacked Jodee just for appearing different in their eyes. Being depressed for Jodee was a normal thing; her bed quickly became her new best friend. Twenty years past all the harassment, Jodee was free, except she had to go back and face the cruel, old classmates at her class reunion. She wondered if they had remembered all the horrible things they did to her. Would they act the same at the reunion, as they did in high school? She was terrified but she knew she had to do it. She was a strong woman with an extreme amount of courage. Jodee Blanco states, "The bullies never remember, but the outcasts never forget," (Blanco 163).
Character Analysis
Jodee Blanco is a young woman, who is going through a hard time in her life. Jodee tries to act strong at school, but when she gets home, all that strength she shows at school, just disappears. She is going through bullying, and no matter how many times she switches schools, it just keeps happening. Her parents see her as being depressed, and try their hardest to help her through it.
Conflict/Resolution
Jodee encounters two different types of conflicts. One is character vs character. Jodee has to deal with the other characters in the book, that are bullying her and disrespecting her, but she also has to deal with herself. The second type of conflict in the novel is character vs self because Jodee has to deal with the way she feels and has to hold all that anger and sadness back when she is at school.
Theme
The theme of Please Stop Laughing At Me is that being popular isn't everything. Readers can take away the fact that you may not be looked at as perfect, but you are perfect the way you are. Readers can also take away that you don't have to be popular in high school to be successful in your adult life. "You don't get to choose who you are in life, but you can decide what you become." (Blanco)
Textual Evidence
My favorite quote from the book, Please Stop Laughing At Me is "... you can overcome sadness, loneliness, even terrible loss. But guilt goes with you to the grave." This is my favorite quote from the book because it states that you can overcome sadness, loneliness, and terrible losses and still be fine. But if that stuff holds you back, you will become guilty and take that guilt to your grave.
Book Review
I would rate this book 5 stars because it teaches you that you can overcome bullying, no matter how bad and still become successful in your later years.
Citations
Group, Blanco. "Jodee Blanco on CNN." YouTube. Blanco Group, 02 June 2010. Web. 12 May 2016.
Sguess. Jodee Blanco. Digital image. Guess Anti-Bullying. Socially Present, n.d. Web. 13 May 2016
Blanco, Jodee. Please Stop Laughing At Me. Digital image. Jodee Blanco. Ravine Design and Advertising, n.d. Web. 13 May 2016.
Blanco, Jodee, and Jodee Blanco. Please Stop Laughing at Me: One Woman's Inspirational Story. Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2003. Print.
Multi-Media
Jodee Blanco on CNN