Please Stop Laughing At Me
By: Jodee Blanco
Summary
This book was mainly about a girl named Jodee Blanco who had a pretty tough life growing up. Jodee was getting bullied a lot starting in middle school. People would kick her, throw things at her, hit her, even take her stuff and put it somewhere nasty. Jodee went from school to school because she didn't want to keep going through all this and she thought that if she went to a different school things would get better. This book started with Jodee afraid to go to her high school reunion but at the end she went in and everyone was nice to her, practically everyone forgot about what happened. This book was a joy to read.
Character analysis
Jodee to me in this book is a shy, afraid girl that doesn't know whether she wants to fit in with the popular kids or just be herself. Jodee had a weird body with one breast being bigger than the other and that was one of the reasons people bullied her. Jodee's family supported her for example on page 102 her parents said this "Jodee, I'm thrilled you've made friends here. But pretending to be someone you're not just to be accepted will hurt you in the long run." When Jodee had friends in the book it seemed like her habits were hanging out with them. Jodee was a fun person to read about, I learned a lot reading about her.
This is what Jodee had to do and deal with practically everyday.
Conflict/resolution
Jodee's hardest part is having to go through all this bullying growing up. It didn't matter what school she went to she would still get bullied, and for a teenager having to go through that with all the things they have to go through already. There really wasn't a resolution because she just had to deal with it because it didn't stop. Most of the book was character vs society but at some points I think it was character vs self. Also a way she solved this problem is is that she would do whatever they want her to do just to fit in. Jodee's life growing up wasn't easy.
Theme
Honestly I think that the theme of this book is respect can go along way and at some points in life you have to fight through it because you won't be able to get out of everything. What I learned from this book that bullying can really hurt people and that it can really make people want to commit. You should never want to bully someone because what if you were the one getting bullied. Jodee realized something that she did in the book was wrong on page (54-55) "As Debbie and Callie blathered on about their party outfits, guilt turned my stomach. I had just done to someone else that had done to me so often in the past". Jodee told a guy that he would get invited to this party when he's really not, she also started to make fun of him with her friends at lunch. I learned a lot from this book.
Jodee Blanco on what NOT to say to a bullied child
Favorite Quote
My favorite quote is when Jodee said this, The hardest thing about being an outcast isn't the love you don't receive it's the love you get that nobody wants.
Book Rate
I rate my book a 4. I rate this book a 4 because it wasn't always interesting. But you did get a lot out of this book. This book can show kids that bullying is wrong and not to do it, and that this bullying thing can cause people to actually want to kill themselves, it teaches them that this is wrong and that they should never do it.