Level identifier in parentheses at end of descriptions
PB – picture book,
I – intermediate (most can be read to primary),
M – middle school,
H – high school.

Rage: Brutal by Micahel Harmon

Poe Holly, an out-spoken punker, transfers to an elitist school that validates students who are privileged students but does not protect those who are bullied. Poe feels the need to point this out at every opportunity, which doesn't win her many friends. Alfred A. Knopf/Random House, 2009. H

Odd Velvet by Mary E. Whitcomb, illustrated by Tara Calahan King. Chronicle Books LLC, 1998. Other students see Velvet as odd, until they slowly get to know her and understand her “odd” is fun. (PB)

Addy Learns a Lesson: A School Story by Connie Porter. Illustrated by Melodye Rosales.The American Girls Collection, Book Two. Scholastic, 1994. Addy and her mother are escaped slaves when they reach Philadelphia where Addy goes to school and discovers some unexpected prejudices from other students who had not been slaves. (I)

Nothing Wrong with a Three-Legged Dog by Graham McNamee. Random House, 2000. Keath gets called Whitey because he is the only white kid in his fourth-grade class. He and his best friend Lynda, who is biracial, find the courage to stand up to the bullies when they have to protect Lynda’s three-legged beagle. (I)

Racing the Past by Sis Deans. Henry Holt, 2001. After his violent father dies, eleven-year-old Ricky gets into fights when bullies taunt him. He makes a deal with the principal: to avoid the bullies he will never share the same space with them, which means no recess or school bus. He walks, and then runs, to and from school. (I)

Super Emma by Sally Warner, illustrated by Jamie Harper. New York: Puffin Books, 2006. As the second smallest third grader, Emma has learned to stand up for herself and her best friend, Ellray, the smallest third grader, but bully Jared Matthews can't resist calling them names. Good adult role models in Emma's mother and their teacher. (I)

A Friendship for Today by Patricia C. McKissack. Scholastic Press, 2007. Set in Missouri in 1954, twelve-year-old Rosemary will start sixth grade at an all white school. At her new school, Rosemary experiences prejudice, she realizes Grace Hamilton suffers it also as the other white kids call her "white trash." (I/M)

Vive La Paris by Esme Raji Codell. New York: Hyperion Books, 2006. Fifth grader Paris starts an Extreme Readers Club at school, takes piano lessons from Mrs. Rosen, a Jewish Neighbor who survived the concentration camps of World War II, and has four older brothers, one of which gets bullied by a girl in Paris' class. This is a wonderful book and is very rich in characters and content. (I/M)

The Misfits  by James Howe. Atheneum, 2001. Four social outcasts in seventh grade create a third political party and run for student council on a platform of “No Name Calling.”  (M)

Exposure by Patricia Murdoch. Orca Soundings, 2006. Julie, a bit overweight and very timid, gets bullied at school by queen bee Dana and her follower, Brynn. Then Julie's brother Zack comes home from a beach party where everyone got drunk enough to get themselves in trouble, and although Dana says she was attacked, Julie has Scott's hidden camera that shows the truth. (M/H)

Letters to a Bullied Girl by Olivia Gardner with Emily & Sarah Buder. HarperCollins, 2008. After the bullying of Olivia Gardner made the news, two sisters started a letter writing campaign to show her she was not alone. (M/H)

Rebound by Bob Krech. Tarrytown, New York: Marshal Cavendish Corp, 2006. Seventeen-year-old Ray Wisniewski just wants to play basketball and doesn't care if he is one of the few white guys to go out for the team, in fact, he makes great friends with several of the black guys - but not all of them. This book will lead to great discussions about prejudice, fairness, and justice across race lines. (M/H)

Sticks and Stones by Beth Goobie. Orca Book Publishers, 2002. Falsely labeled as a “slut,” Jujube fights back against the slurs whispered in the hallways and written on the bathroom walls of her school. (M/H)

Yellow Line by Sylvia Olsen. Orca Soundings, 2005. Two villages share the same schools, but their villages are divided in all other ways, the white live on one side of teh line and the First Nation lives on the other, who everyone just calls Indians. A Romeo and Juliet story.(M/H)

Generation Dead by Daniel Waters. New York: Hyperion, 2008. A strange phenomenon has been added to the usual crazies of Oakdale High School - some teens who have died, have come back to life. Seniors Adam Layman, the biggest guy on the football team, and Phoebe Kindall, his best friend and neighbor, are more open minded about accepting these students than many others. When Tommy Williams, a dead kid, tries out for football the head coach puts out a hit on him! The prejudice in the school and community parallels all the real life prejudice that exists against minorities. A great book for discussion. (H)

Sandpiper by Ellen Wittlinger. Simon & Schuster, 2005. In eighth grade, Sandpiper learned that the easiest way to get a boyfriend was to offer oral sex. Now in the tenth grade, she is tired of her reputation, but finds it impossible to change it. All the stereotypes are here. (H)

The Duff by Kody Koplinger.

Bianca Piper, 17, has been informed by Wesley Rush that she is The Duff, the designated ugly fat friend, and so he will talk to her to gain favor with her prettier, sexier friends. When things start falling apart at home-Bianca's mom mails in divorce papers from her traveling job to Bianca's dad, a recovering alcoholic who starts drinking again. Not wanting to tell her friends whose worlds always seem perfect, Bianca turns to Wesley for some intense avoidance sex. Poppy/Little Brown, 2010 (Definitely high school)

Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher. Greenwillow, 2001. T.J. Jones, an adopted child with a multicultural heritage, pulls together a high school swim team composed of misfits, giving them a place to belong in a school and community filled with discrimination. (H)