PLEASE STOP LAUGHING AT ME by Jodee Blanco

"Memories come flooding back.  Dara burning the back of my hand with a lit cigarette . . . she, Kat, Steve, and their friends throwing me in the mud and kicking me as they chanted their hate for me . . . my favorite shoe floating in the toilet . . . my new white sweater, wet and stained, lying on the floor in a puddle of Coke."

Jodee Blanco shares the horrors of bullying in her book PLEASE STOP LAUGHING AT ME.  A victim of bully behavior from elementary on through her years in high school, Blanco reveals the pain and humiliation she dealt with in the hopes that she might help others with similar experiences. 

Her amazing story details her parents efforts to protect their daughter including their willingness to help her change schools and their pleas to school administrators who brushed off the complaints as minor and unimportant.  The treatment by her fellow students and the blatant ignorance of her teachers is simply shocking. 

Blanco's story will offer inspiration for many who have or are experiencing taunts or physical harm from bullies.  She has become a spokesperson for anti-bullying campaigns and a program titled It's NOT Just Joking Around!