Book Review: Please Stop Laughing at Me

To most children, school is a happy place to learn, play, and socialize. For Jodee, it was a battlefield where she had to tip toe around to avoid numerous punches and verbal shots from abusive classmates. From elementary until high school, she was bombarded with physical and verbal attacks by other children. Moving to one school after the other, Jodee could not break free from the vicious cycle of bullying. She was an outcast. Her teachers remained useless, her parents did not listen, and her doctor's cure was more medication.

Jodee Blanco's "Please Stop Laughing at Me" is an inspirational account of the effects of bullying and how the outcast was seen as the problem. She exposes how society failed her through the interactions with the school, her parents, and her doctor. This book is not only for those who have experienced being bullied, but also for those who have seen it and done nothing. No child (or adult!) should have to go through the abuse that Jodee went through and that it is why this book is on most required reading lists.