The Bully

The Bully is written by Paul Langan. This book is a coming of age story and overcoming your fears as you read through the story you will follow the main character Darrell as his life changes in very big ways.

The story is about a boy from Philadelphia, named Darrell Mercer, that makes a huge move across the US to California starting at a new school with a new bully that Darrell has to face without having anybody that he had back in Philadelphia. 

The stories overcoming narrative is very compelling one huge quote that stood out to me while I was reading was “A man’s gotta stand up when someone else is in trouble, even if it means he might get himself into trouble.” that line really stood out to me because as much as it related to the character and what he was going through I know I’ve been in situations where that has happened and it is really awesome that I can really relate to the story in a different way. 

I believe that a lot of people can relate to the character if not maybe even learn from that character to overcome your fears and to not allow people to walk all over you. If you're looking for an underdog story that relates to a lot in the world and something you can learn from I’d recommend The Bully for you.

Book Review by Adrian S.

The Bully

I read The Bully, by Paul Langan . Paul Langan has also written Someone To Love Me , Valleys of Death, and Schooled .The basic plot of the book is that a young boy, Darrell, is bullied at high school. Its major theme is how bullying is very harmful to children.

In this book, Darrell  mercer faces when he and his mother move from Philadelphia to California . He got bullied by his uncle and cousins , tyray and his friends The important characters are  Darrell , mom  and tyray . The important conflicts are when Darrell move from Philadelphia to California. One significant external conflict is that he gets bullied by his own family and Tyray and his friends . One major internal conflict is that he was scared of Tyray and his friends.  The central idea of the book is that he wants to be taller and stronger .

I highly recommend this book you read this book as possible because is a really good book is so interesting . You should also read is now because it shows how people get bullied and it's sad how this happens so we really have to stop the bullying this is a book but it really happens to a lot of people.   

Book Review by Diana V.

The Bully

I read the book The Bully by Paul Langan from the Bluford high series it is about a teenage boy named Darrell Mercer.He recently just moved in California.He and his mom had to move there because she had a job there.They also moved in with his uncle and his two kids.Darrell didn't want to move to California because he wouldn't be able to see his friends again.Darrell always wanted to be big and buff but he is small and thin.

It was Darrell’s first day at Bluford High School his mom told him to be nice and polite to everyone he sees.While walking to his new High School he sees two other kid that were taller Than named Tyray and Rodeney outside of a store.Tyray threatened Darrell for looking at him.Darrell walked away from them.One day Darrell was walking in a ally because it was a shorter way to get to school.There was two guys there it was Tyray and Rodeney.Tyray wanted Darrell’s money so he threatened to kill Darrell if he didn't give him money.Darrell was forced to give Tyray money everyday or else him would beat him.Darrell ran out of money so he had to steal from his mom.Darrell wanted to be tougher and stronger so he signed up for wrestling.

Slowly he was becoming stronger.One day Tyray saw Darrell walking and asked him for money in the cafeteria.Darrell refused and Tyray was mad and started a fight with Darrell but a teacher saw them arguing.Darrell said he was sick of being bullied.Tyray was embarrassed he had to hit.Did the teacher stop it in time?Did Tyray hit Darrell?

I recommend this book because it gets you hooked on and you wanna know what's gonna happen next.I read this book in 8th grade but I read it again in 9th.it is a really good book and has a lot of characters.I read this book because It kinda relates in my self Darrell is a freshmen and I am also a freshmen.If I had to rate this book 1 to 10 it would be 10 because it really gets you hooked on to the story 

Book Review by Kevin X.

The Bully

I read The bully, by Paul Langan. Paul Langan has also written The Gun. I cannot compare them because I have not read The Gun. In The Bully, the protagonist Darrell moving to California from Philadelphia leaves his best friend from since first grade, Malik.  

The main characters in this are Darrell, Malik, Darrell mom and Tyray.In this book Darrell is moving to California, and he's leaving his best friend Malik. Darrell is going to a new school, a new life, a encounter new bully. Darrell is bullied by tray because he's smarter than his classmates. That's what Darrell Mercer when he and his mother move from Philadelphia to California.  After spending months living in fear, Darrell is faced with a big decision. He can either keep on running from this bully or find some way to fight back.

I highly recommend you read this book as soon as possible because it interesting. You should also read it now because really great book and you can learn from it,like can be stain up to bullies, like Darrell did.    

Book Review by Diggs B.

The Bully

The Bully by Paul Langan

It was a cold November day Darrell Mercer was walking with his best friend Malik Stone. Darrell and his mom lived in Philadelphia. Darrell couldn’t believe that he was moving tomorrow morning to go to California. When him and his mom were on their way to California Darrell was mad because he didn’t want to live his best friend behind and the neighborhood that he has known for 15 years. His mom found a good job in California and Darrell refused to go and live with his uncle and his two annoying kids. One was about Darrell’s age and the other one was very young. Once they arrived in California Darrell saw his cousin the one who was about his age. Darrell noticed something was very different about him he got more muscular and taller. Those were the two things Darrell wished he had looked like but instead he was skinny small and not muscular.

It was Darrell’s first day at Bluford High School his mom had told him to smile and be nice to people. Darrell took his moms advice when he saw two tall boys named Tyray and Rodeney outside of a grocery store. Tyray said “Who are you laughing at fool?!” Darrell immediately turned around and walked faster to the high school. After Darrell had his first day at Bluford High School he wished he had never moved to California. He has never been bullied because Malik always fought Darrell’s battles for him. From now on when Darrell was on his way to school every morning he would have to give Tyray his lunch money and Darrell would starve until he got home. One day he didn’t have any more money to give Tyray so he had to steal money from his mom. Darrell got so sick and tired of giving Tyray his mom’s hard earning money and getting pushed around by him every single day Darrell decided to join the wrestling team. When he made the wrestling team he stopped giving Tyray his mom’s money and went to go sit down with his new friend Harold in the lunch room. Tyray saw him and immediately went up to him and demanded for the money Darrell ignored him and walked away but when Tyray called him chicken Darrell paused and turned around and said “you know what Tyray I am sick of you pushing me around and giving you money!” the two of them argued back and forth. Mr. Mitchel one of the teachers at Bluford saw them arguing and then Tyray was so embarrassed he just had to hit Darrell. Did Mr. Mitchel stop Tyray before he could hit Darrell? Did Darrell get even with Tyray?

I recommend you to read this book because it is very interesting to know what will happen next and it is very hard to put the book down once you start to read it! When I first started reading this book I couldn’t put it down I would even take it home to read it at night before I went to bed. After I got done reading a chapter or two I would tell me sister exactly what happens in the book and she finds it very interesting and she even found the book at her school and started to read it. If I could rate this book I would rate it five stars because it has a lot of details you can picture in your head as your reading it and you can’t imagine what happens next! 

Book Review by Kalessa T.