Essay Questions

Why was Dear Bully: Seventy Authors Tell Their Stories written?

The suicide committed by Phoebe Prince in South Hadley, Mass, was world known, as it was revealed that she decided to take her own life as a consequence of the non-stop bullying that she went through each day. Megan Kelley Hall and Carrie Jones decided to make a Facebook group as a reaction to this, where YA authors shared their own stories of bullying, which was later published in Dear Bully, so the young readers today know that they are not alone.

Why did the stories in the book mainly include bullying in the form of school bullying?

Many readers and critics have discussed the repetitiveness in the book, as most of the bullying is violent and happens in school. Today, that is not the case. A lot of people go through bullying in the form of social media comments, degrading and messages sent anonymously. This is not shown in the book as the authors are older, and all the stories are true. During that time, the social media platform was not used actively, and hence, not a part of the book.

How do the authors themselves comment on bullying?

The underlying message in the whole book is that “you are not alone”, as there are seventy different authors, telling seventy different stories concerned with bullying. Often the victims feel alone, and that they are the only person treated that way, which is entirely wrong. The authors go as far as explaining how bullies had inspired characters and plot lines in boos, such as Daniel Waters Generation Dead.