Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo.com
Ivy has been teased and bullied every day since the fourth grade by three very popular girls at school.
Ms. Gold wants to have a mock trial in her government class. She decides that Ivy should sue the evil three.
All Ivy wants is an apology and to be left alone.
Told through eight different voices, this book is about the trial. Not only is Ivy a victim, but we also are told the story of Daria, the painfully shy student who ends up representing Ivy in the trial even though she doesn't want to.
What I had a hard time with was the indifference of the bystanders, those who see the abuse every day but decide they can't or won't do anything about it. I also had a hard time with the teacher, who delights in seeing her students squirm.
But I believe that bullies need to be stood up to - and not only by the victim, but by all of society. This illustrates the fact that when kids see bullying done to others they also need to stand up for what is right and not let them get away with it.
POISON IVY, I believe, is an important book which should be read in junior high and discussed in classrooms across the United States.
Ivy has been teased and bullied every day since the fourth grade by three very popular girls at school.
Ms. Gold wants to have a mock trial in her government class. She decides that Ivy should sue the evil three.
All Ivy wants is an apology and to be left alone.
Told through eight different voices, this book is about the trial. Not only is Ivy a victim, but we also are told the story of Daria, the painfully shy student who ends up representing Ivy in the trial even though she doesn't want to.
What I had a hard time with was the indifference of the bystanders, those who see the abuse every day but decide they can't or won't do anything about it. I also had a hard time with the teacher, who delights in seeing her students squirm.
But I believe that bullies need to be stood up to - and not only by the victim, but by all of society. This illustrates the fact that when kids see bullying done to others they also need to stand up for what is right and not let them get away with it.
POISON IVY, I believe, is an important book which should be read in junior high and discussed in classrooms across the United States.
