Wednesday, December 3, 2008

THE TRUTH ABOUT TRUMAN SCHOOL by Dori Hillestad Butler



THE TRUTH ABOUT TRUMAN SCHOOL explores cyberbullying. Zebby and her computer savvy friend Amr decide to start a news website for their school. Zebby is especially frustrated with their current newspaper and the fact that the advisor doesn't let them print anything of importance to the students at Truman School. If they start a website not connected to the school, everyone will be free to publish whatever happens to be on their minds, and hopefully the news stories will tell the real truth about middle school life.

The initial idea behind the online news site was a good one, but things quickly get out of hand. A mysterious poster named milkandhoney starts posting mean comments aimed directly at a girl named Lilly. Zebby and Amr don't want to remove the cruel posts because they've promoted the site as one where people are free to express their views, but they are bothered by the vicious attacks on a girl they at one time considered a friend.

When links begin to appear on the Truth about Truman site that direct readers to even more nasty attacks on poor Lilly, Zebby and Amr begin to question the soundness of their original plan. Things really turn ugly as Lilly starts faking illness to avoid school, and then she actually disappears. The entire community becomes aware of the online bullying and heads begin to roll.

Many books focused on the problem of bullying can be pretty intense and often contain actions and language more appropriate for older teens, but THE TRUTH ABOUT TRUMAN SCHOOL makes its point and aims its material at a middle school audience. It is a worthy addition for any library or classroom.

6 comments:

Dawn said...
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Dawn said...
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Anonymous said...

i love this book it was the best

Unknown said...

lookin forward to reading it for the summer

Anonymous said...

this book was really creative and inspiring i do not know what made this book so great but i loved it..i am writing a summary about it for school too...

Anonymous said...

amazing i loved it so so much