Rating: 
Summary: A weak and disappointing account
Review: "Reader from Tacoma" and "Sara from Chicago" are absolutely right. Jodee Blanco provides no insight and precious little inspiration in her story. Why was she picked on so relentlessly? We're only given a few unsatisfactory clues (one being that Noble Jodee stands up for underdogs -- the deaf, the learning disabled, etc. Oh, puh-leeze!). How did she turn her life around? We can only extrapolate. How can a child or parent deal with bullying in school? No answers here. But what truly shocked me about this book was how poorly it was written. The dialogue is so stilted and the characters so one-dimensional (I lost track after a while of how many of Jodee's early teachers were "kindly")that, after the first few chapters, I actually double-checked to make sure I hadn't accidentally purchased a book written for children. And here's the shocker: Jodee is, according to her bio, a high-powered publishing executive. Is it possible, just possible, that she thought she didn't need an editor?
Rating: 
Summary: Very Moving
Review: Everyone with children in school should read this book. If your child does not like school or has other problems, the reason could be he or she is the victim of the class bullies. As a former victim of the bullies in my school, I cried as I read this book because this was my story. Jodee was luckier than I was as I lived in a semi-rural area and could not change schools. I endured 10 years of being ignored, teased, taunted and the victim of cruel jokes and pranks. Jodee was able to forgive her tormentors; I cannot forgive or forget. Because 25 plus years later when I see one of my former tormentors, they still say something hurtful and cruel. Bullies NEVER change.
Rating: 
Summary: What Has It Left Me With?
Review: I bought this book on a whim after picking it off the bookshelf, and I must say that I am a bit disappointed with my purchase. Jodee's life just seemed to get progressively worse, and I felt honest sympathy for her. The question I kept asking myself was, why do these children keep torturing her? As the book went on I seriously wanted an answer to this question. At the risk of sounding insensitive, I must say that bullies generally pick their prey based on some personal flaw, right? The author never seemed to identify what it was that made her so vulnerable to bullies. I was left confused. As a high schooler, I have never in my many years of school been exposed to the kind of cruelty that Jodee experienced. I honestly feel that (in general) the kids I have gone to school with for eleven years are incapable of such behavior. Am I that naive, to think that Jodee's was almost some kind of an alternative world? And while this review concerns the book, I must use some of my experience to explain my reaction to it. I am by no means popular, and I have had some difficulty in the past in trying to make friends at school, but I have never before been put in a situation remotely similar to Jodee's.
I think that it is definitely necessary, when reading this book, to use one's own personal experience to understand (or attempt to grasp) Jodee's experience. In the end, though, I felt like giving Jodee advice (Jodee is someone who could almost be my mother.) I wanted to just tell the author that being popular or being part of the "in-crowd" is not particularly important. It seemed as if this was all Jodee cared about, and it pained me to see such intelligent potential wasted. The truly sad part is that Jodee as an adult seems to still covet popularity, etc. Why?, I ask, Couldn't she see through it?
The disappointing part of the book is its lack of closure. Blanco never fully explains why she was preyed upon so fiercely in her school years. She never fully explains how to overcome such an obstacle, or how to prevent it from happening in the first place. She says that her parents erred in some way, but she never fully explains how they did.
In the end, this book left me with many questions. I felt that it addressed things like deceit, dishonesty, and cruelty that ultimately left me doubting my peers. I felt that this whole world of horrible behavior that I had never seen before had suddenly been thrust in front of me. Is this good or bad? I'm still not certain.
Rating:
Summary: should have been titled "Jodee's Pity Party"
Review: This book infuriated me. The point of this book is not to help people understand bullying - or that it occurs on a daily basis to hundreds of children. It is about Jodee - and her pathetic life. "one woman's inspirational story?" Who is this book inspiring? Jodee frequently stands up for the underdog from these horrendous people she has encountered, showing us what a saint she is, but rarely stands up for herself. Many times I found myself whincing at the stupidy Jodee displays in social situations. How many humilating stories do we have to hear about - WE GET THE POINT. I do not want to belittle the fact that bullying is a horrible thing and can cause great tragedies. However, Jodee gives us no indication of how to prevent or stand up to bullying. Unless you count her reconstructive surgery and her trip to Santorini (dont' get me started on this awful chapter) as a solution. This incredibly boring book is written by a woman that doesn't care about her audience but instead is trying to prove to her bullies that she has made something of herself - it's sad and obvious in the book that Ms. Blanco is still insecure. The fact that she wrote this self serving book proves that. I guess she did inspire me to realize that anyone can write a book - because this book stinks.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I bought this book a few weeks ago. I could really relate to this book as I was picked on and teased all through School. I started reading this book and I couldn't put it down. It was a wonderful book and it was a book that was wrote very well. I'm not at all sorry I got this book. Jodee your a blessed gift for being able to go to school with your head up high and most of all its great that your able to write about it. You wouldn't not be sorry for not picking up this book to read once you begin you won't be able to put it down.
Rating: 
Summary: Being Rude Is UnCool!!!
Review: The author Jodee Blanco is a great writer and I admire her for writting this book, it must not had been easy. It only took me a few days to read it and it's a easy read. Yeah people who say, "Kids will be kids", is society is so blind, don't they know that bullying is very damaging for someone, oh yeah they think it like that being a kid or a teen you are cool or uncool, you will forget about it and the famous saying kids will be kids! Now they just starting to realise how bad bullying is at school and how unhealty and damaging is for someone who is being tease, did they need more suicide, depression, kids who killed the one who bully them, do we need that again to make them open their stupid mind and eyes? Well people who saying, why that terrible thing had happen, why a shy kid who was so nice killed another kid, is it music, is it tv noooo, open YOUR eyes and SEE it just in front of you, it's BULLYING, the shy kid was tired of being bullied, he was depressed, can not think right, he think his only way out is revange and killing his bullies, well now DO YOU UNDERSTAND??? The book was good but it kinda repeat itself sometime and what about the shy kid/teen who is being bully and tease for no reason, just for being there, the one who is skinny or fat? Jodee was too nice and the other didn't understand her they think of her as goody goody, that's why she was being bully, so you got a reason about why she was being bully (even if the reason is bad) but what about the shy kid who had no reason to be tease on? They got so many of them! But still I am glad that Jodee became the swan she dream to be but not many kids and teens are like her and hopeful and they end up being no one because they always think they will because they had been bully and they can't outgrow it, they cannot move on, I hope they will one day too become swans they deserve it so much!
Rating:
Summary: Can't be compared to Dave Pelzer
Review: This is an engaging book--the story of the author's struggles at school are hard to put down. However, I found it quite frustrating as it lacked insight into what to do about bullying (Get reconstructive surgery? An excellent idea in this case, but not always a possibility or solution... Get the word out that you are writing a book about your past so everyone you knew will want to be nice to you before it gets published? May work...) The book does deal with a valid problem, but I found it rather self-serving.
Rating:
Summary: Make this book required reading...
Review: Two groups of people should be reading this book. The first group is people that work with children and teens. The second group is teenagers.If you've ever been an outcast, you can totally relate to this young woman's story. If you've been on the "fringes" of popularity, trying desperately to fit in, you'll recognize some of the people in this book. The book is an easy, yet painful read. It isn't really a deep book; it doesn't analyze or find any solutions, which bothered me at first. But then I realized, Jodee isn't trying to find a solution to bullying, she's just making us more aware of what happens. She's educating us, through this story, and that could lead to solutions. I feel Jodee is very brave, for putting this story in print. I'd like to see a follow-up to her story, a "what happened after it was published" sort of book.
Rating:
Summary: Strickly a history book
Review: Oddly enough, this is a book that kept me up till 2 am, and I didn't like it. I kept thinking, "Surely she'll get to the meat soon" and she never did. As one of my fellow reviewers mention there was no introspection here, no thoughts on how to prevent bullying, how to help children deal with it. This book states plainly "This happened to me". Having had similar things happen in my own life, it made quite sad, and offered no hope or wisdom to soothe the wound. This was half an important book, but the important part is missing.
Rating:
Summary: Split Decision
Review: On the one hand, I commend Jodee for having the courage to talk about her experiences. As a former victim of bullying, it was nice to see that I'm not alone. On the other hand, I felt like this book focused too much on what happened to her in school and did not talk enough about what happened to her afterward. Jodee is obviously a very different person now than she was as a teenager. How did that happen? How did she get past what happened to her as a child and become successful? She doesn't say, and I'd really like to know. Jodee's story is an interesting and inspirational read, but I wish it had been longer.
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