The wonderful books in the Weird series are great resources to help build young childrens social skills to address and prevent bullying. -- Trudy Ludwig, childrens advocate and best-selling author of Confessions of a Former Bully Three stories told from the perspectives of three different children: one who is bullied (Weird!), a bystander (Dare!), and the bully herself (Tough!). Each title shows readers, through the texts and the expressive ink illustrations, what each child feels. In Weird! Luisa is portrayed as a bubbly and vibrant character wearing her beloved polka-dot boots everywhere she goes. Then she is tormented by Sam, and her uniqueness and confidence become liabilities instead of strengths, and she throws away her boots. It isnt until a bystander, Jayla, stands up to the bully and returns Luisas footwear that the book ends on a positive note with the victim confidence restored. Following the stories, nonfiction sections offer tips from each characters perspective or suggest simple group activities that model positive behaviors. Each title also has talking points and discussion questions, so readers can go back into the story and discuss what is occurring and how they might be able to change the outcome in a real-world scenario. The books stand alone as separate titles, but theyre much more effective when utilized together to give a complete view of how the main characters are feeling and the outside events that help shape their roles. For example, Sam, the bully, is being taunted at home by an older brothersetting her up to then find someone that she can pick on at school. These will be useful titles particularly for schools, but also for public libraries that see a fair number of requests for character-education titles. * School Library Journal * This series is going to be hotter than hot. I loved, loved, loved the text and the illustrations. So simple, yet so powerful! -- DeeDee Ginns Gruenberg, psychotherapist and bookseller, Self Esteem Shop One of a trio of books that present the topic of bullying from three perspectives: the bullied, the bystander and the bully. No matter what Luisa does, from wearing her favorite polka-dot boots to telling jokes at lunch, Sam declares that she is Weird! Luisa gradually stops being herself, until her mother and friends help her realize that she is wonderful the way she is. Jaylas fear of becoming the target governs her actions as she alternately stands by and does nothing and takes Sams Dare! to participate. She eventually realizes that she has lost too much to feeling scared and befriends Luisa. From glimpses of her home life, it is not hard to see why Sam acts as Tough! as she does. But her attempts at keeping things cool are not winning her any friends, and the fact that no one is playing by her rules anymore gets her to start thinking about her behavior. While the series is slightly didactic, the well-drawn characters have real problems with (mostly) credible resolutions. Extensive back matter, with separate sections for children and adults, in each book summarizes the lessons learned and provides activities to help change ingrained behaviors. Heaphys pen-and-ink illustrations are dotted with highlights of color that spotlight the main characters. She is a master of facial expression and body language; Sams hoodie sweatshirt speaks volumes all on its own.While the series would benefit from a boys version, the message is still loud and clear; this should find a home in every school library. * Kirkus Reviews * The Weird series encourages children that are being bullied to stand up for themselves . . . bystanders to act when they see something bad happening . . . [ and] children who are bullying others to reassess their actions and motivations. * The Childrens Book Review * My kids and I loved the Weird series . . . the books were incredibly insightful and provoked good discussion. Well written by Erin Frankel, beautifully illustrated by Paula Heaphy, and published by the always inspiring Free Spirit Publishing, [ this series] is a must-own for educators, if not parents. -- Melissa Taylor, Imagination Soup
