Bullying Prevention Booklist for Educators and Parents

The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander: From Preschool to High School—How Parents and Teachers Can Help Break the Cycle
By Barbara Coloroso
This book is geared toward helping parents and teachers deal with bullying situations among children. Coloroso defines the roles of the bully, the bullied and the bystander, and analyzes ways to alter their behavior. Coloroso also provides insight on cliques, hazing, taunting and sexual bullying.

Girl Wars: 12 Strategies that Will End Female Bullying
By Cheryl Dellesega and Charisse Nixon
This guide to confronting bullying is aimed at adults, specifically parents. It presents strategies for preventing bullying among preteen and teenage girls and for how to handle bullying situations. It explains ways to help the bully deal with her issues; provide supportive role models; teach communication skills; stress assertiveness, not aggressiveness; learn conflict resolution skills; and identify alternatives to bullying behavior.

It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying and Creating a Life Worth Living
By Dan Savage and Terry Miller
This book grew out of the “It Gets Better” project, a movement involving YouTube videos by celebrities, activists, organizations and public figures. The videos convey messages of solidarity and encouragement for LGBT youth who are victims of bullying and harassment. The book version includes transcripts of these messages along with new accounts.

Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls
By Rachel Simmons
Rachel Simmons is a Rhodes Scholar, former teacher and director of the Girls Leadership Institute, an organization that offers camps and workshops to instill confidence in girls and promote healthy relationships. Simmons bases this book on the accounts of more than 300 girls at 30 schools, and sheds light on a “hidden culture of silent and indirect aggression.” She highlights the less obvious forms of bullying, such as dirty looks, gossip, rumors and relational aggression, which girls often suffer from. Simmons offers advice for parents, teachers and girls on how to end these destructive patterns. The book was the inspiration for a Lifetime movie, also titled “Odd Girl Out.” Simmons followed up this book with “Odd Girl Speaks Out: Girls Write about Bullies, Cliques, Popularity, and Jealousy,” a compilation of anecdotes, poems and letters from Simmons' school visits. 

Please Stop Laughing at Me
By Jodee Blanco
In this New York Times best-selling memoir, Blanco describes her experiences as a target of harassment from 5th grade through high school. Blanco was tormented for reporting bullying incidents to her teachers, and also for a medical condition that caused her breasts to grow at different rates. In the book, Blanco laments years of therapy and medication while her tormentors remained unscathed. She now travels the nation to tell her story and raise awareness about the dangers of bullying. Blanco followed up this book with a sequel, "Please Stop Laughing at Us," in which she tells the stories of other children who have been bullied and offers her own advice. (NOTE: This book is geared for parents and teens.)

Speak Up and Get Along!: Learn the Mighty Might, Thought Chop, and More Tools to Make Friends, Stop Teasing, and Feel Good About Yourself
By Scott Cooper
This book offers 21 strategies for expressing feelings, building relationships, conflict mediation and dealing with bullying. Each technique is illustrated with examples. The book can be used by children who want to learn and adults who want to promote these types of skills.

Tornado Warning: A Memoir of Teen Dating Violence and Its Effect on a Woman's Life
By Elin Stebbins Waldal
Elin Stebbins Waldal presents a personal account of her involvement in an abusive relationship as a teenager. She recounts her experiences with her abusive ex-boyfriend, who damaged her both emotionally and physically. She talks about how she healed from the ordeal, and how she tries to help her own teenage children avoid a similar fate. The book has been honored with a Mom’s Choice Award. (NOTE: This book is relevant for teens and parents.)