Ginger and the Bully

Title: GINGER AND THE BULLY

Author: S. E. Simpson

Publisher: Tate Publishing

September 2011

ISBN: 978-1617777950

Genre: Young adult/early reader

My name is Lucretia Virginia Ryan, and if you think it's easy to go through life with a name like that, then you probably think doing a no-handed cartwheel is easy. At least I have a nickname that suits me: Ginger. Ten-year-old Ginger Ryan is dreading starting fourth grade. She and her best friend, Melody, have been split up for the first time since kindergarten, and Ginger has the meanest teacher in school, Ms. Lindell. Just when she thinks things couldn't get any worse, they do. The new kid in school shares the same last name as Ginger, so he sits right next to her. Typically, he turns out to be the class bully. Todd Ryan makes it his goal in life to make Ginger's life a living nightmare. As if that's not bad enough, Ginger is also dealing with a pesky older brother and a best friend who has turned into a snob. Fourth grade is supposed to be fun. So how could things go so horribly wrong? Ginger tries everything from ignoring Todd to purposefully throwing up on him, but Todd is relentless. Will Ginger and the Bully survive the fourth grade?

GINGER AND THE BULLY is a really sweet story about a ten-year-girl in the fourth grade. Ginger struggles to deal with the mean boy sitting next to her and is afraid to stand up for herself. She makes a new friend who encourages her. I loved watching Ginger grow and become more self-confident through the course of the book.

I highly recommend this book for early readers. Even older kids. My teenage daughter read it in a day and said it was a great book. My twelve-year-old is taking it to camp to read during quiet time. The chapters are short, and the story is fantastic. 5 stars. 104 pages. $8.99.