So Not Okay by Nancy Rue

~Saturday Stories~

Typical Tori: There was another one of those seven-second things where I teetered. Phee would never speak to me again if I helped Ginger, no question about that. And if the Pack found out, I’d be the next one with moldy baked goods in my locker. But I already knew how this felt. And it was so not okay.

The Pack was there before. That wasn't what had changed. It was just that Tori had never been their target before.

Kylie and her friends- the Pack, as Tori calls them - are the girls in sixth grade who decide what's cool. And apparently, the new girl Ginger is not. Will it just "go away", as some people say, or should Tori do something? And if she will - what will it cost her?

Bullying isn't a joke. It's real and it's out there. So Not Okay deals more with the word-bullying than the hit-and-punch bullying. The type of bullying that leaves you feeling like a loser and a nerd. The type that calls a girl "gingerbread" of doesn't let her go to her locker or laughs when she reads her essay. The type that's hard to pinpoint and that's easy to miss for the adults. But it's still there.

So Not Okay is Nancy Rue's first book in the anti-bullying series. It is told from the bystander's point of view. Tori learns that there is no such thing as "neutral" and that something can -and should- be done. There is also discussion on WHAT can be done.

If you want some great fiction with an even greater message, you just might enjoy this book. The second one - You Can't Sit With Us - is told from the victim's point of view and releases in December. The last one, Sorry I'm Not Sorry, told from the bully's point of view, will release April 2015.

If you'd like more information on the anti-bullying campaign you can visit the movement's website and the "Wednesdays after school" posts at Nancy Rue's blog.

For more on Nancy Rue, visit her website, Facebook page, and blogs for tweens, teens, and new adults.