How to Beat the Bully Without Really Trying
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
When luck gives a new kid a false reputation as a tough guy, can he find the strength to live up to his image?
Rodney Rathbone is a self-admitted coward. Things scare him, and he can’t help it. So naturally he’s terrified when he moves to a new town and the bully is ready to pounce. But just as Rodney is about to flee, a baseball flies in from out of nowhere and knocks out the bully. Now everyone thinks Rodney’s invincible—when really he feels just the opposite. Can he figure out how to live up to his new reputation and make friends along the way?
Told with warmth and heart, this debut novel from a middle-school teacher will speak to the hidden insecurities—and strengths—of every middle-grade reader.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Over the course of a school year, perpetual underdog Rodney Rathbone transforms himself from insecure new kid and bully magnet to class hero all by goofy happenstance in Starkey's debut novel. The farcical chain of events is set in motion when Rodney faces off with bully Josh and an errant baseball gives Josh a bloody broken nose, though the distracted onlookers give Rodney the credit. Several similar incidents help inflate Rodney's legend and he's not complaining. Meanwhile, he's hoping to make some real friends, woo his crush, and survive a teacher who has it in for him. Though Starkey is in tune with the rhythms of life in upper elementary school, he often turns up the ridiculousness too high in pursuit of campiness, leaving readers with a sometimes tiresome string of episodes. An undercurrent of nastiness among the characters from local bullies to a truly sinister teacher is less funny than it is uncomfortable, and while Rodney technically "beats" the bully at his own game, his triumph is somewhat hollow. Ages 8 12.
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