Bullies

Camy here! I was just talking with a friend whose daughter has had to deal with bullies at school.

Her theory—and I think I agree—is that a lot of times, bullies can tell when a kid is loved and cherished at home, and out of jealousy, they target them to bully.

When I was in high school, I was the shy, quiet, geeky girl. If someone threatened to slap me, I’d cower and probably go into the hallway to cry.

These days, I’m a bit more confident because Jesus made me more confident. I can better trust in who I am in Christ and how He makes me a better, stronger person. So these days, if a bully threatened to slap me, I’d probably tell them that if they did, I’d laugh and point while the teacher sent them to the principal.

I wish I’d been that way in high school, rather than the nervous girl crying in the hallway. I wish I’d been able to stand up to bullies, because the pain of a blow to the face would be nothing compared to the consequences they’d face with the teachers and other adults in authority.

But in a way, that quiet girl made me who I am. I am more sensitive to other quiet, shy, geeky girls because I was one.

But I’d still tell them to stand up to the bullies.

Here’s an excerpt from a book about another shy, quiet girl who reminds me of me!

A Little Help from My Friends
by
Anne Dayton & May Vanderbilt

Zoe is used to being overlooked. As the youngest and shyest Miracle Girl, she was happy to fade into the background last year. But when she sheds her baby fat and shoots up four inches the summer before her junior year, everything changes. Now she's turning heads at school, and this new attention is beginning to strain her relationship with her sweet, serious boyfriend, Marcus.

Pressure builds when Zoe's assigned partner for history class is Dean Marchese--a handsome New York transplant who isn't afraid to show her how he feels.
Just when she needs her three best friends the most, the Miracle Girls are suffering from boy troubles of their own.

Even Zoe's rock-solid home life begins to shake underneath her when her parents' relationship frays in the face of serious financial burdens. As this uncertain year of growing pains comes to a frenetic head, the quietest Miracle Girl must find her voice at long last and take control of her own destiny . . . with more than a little help from her friends.

Excerpt of chapter one:

Camy Tang writes romance with a kick of wasabi. Out now is her humorous contemporary romance novel, Single Sashimi, and her romantic suspense, Deadly Intent. She also runs the Story Sensei critique service. In her spare time, she is a staff worker for her church youth group, and she leads one of the worship teams for Sunday service. On her blog, she gives away Christian novels and ponders frivolous things. Sign up for her newsletter YahooGroup for giveways!