Review by Neeve Edwards-Brown, Avonside Girls High School
The survival guide to bullying: Written by a teen
Aija Mayrock. (2015). Scholastic Inc.
Author, Aija Mayrock, offers guidance as well as different strategies that helped her get through even the toughest of days.

This book is about Aija’s experiences with bullying and how she dealt with it. Aija’s feelings in this book are descriptive and artistic. This makes the book more realistic as you feel like you are going through the journey with her and can put yourself into her shoes and know you are not alone in your own experiences. One thing that is great about this book is that it gives you activities and tips to overcome bullying and ways to deal with it in the moment.

This book is definitely written for young people because it talks about the school environment and experiences, and the language is casual and easy to read. However, the strategies described are useful for all ages. My favourite part of the book is when she talks about her success with using these strategies and how she is so open and honest with the reader. Other things I really like include the feature of the ‘roems’ (rap poems) as they are super fun to read out loud. I also really like the artwork and fonts as they are visually appealing. This book covers all types of bullying (physical, verbal, social and cyber) which means everyone's concerns are covered.

Overall, this book is fantastic in the way it reaches out to young people and empowers them to keep going, ask for help and stay strong.

Disclaimer: Please note these reviews are not intended as endorsements or recommendations from the Mental Health Foundation. This feature introduces resources that may be useful for individuals with an interest in bullying prevention, mental health and wellbeing topics.

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