Book Review: 'Please Stop Laughing at Me' by Jodee Blanco

'Please Stop Laughing at Me' by Jodee Blanco is a heartbreaking, true story of the author's many years of bullying, taunting, and abuse at the hands of her schoolmates.  For all accounts, she was a normal little girl, and popular for many years in elementary school. She also had loving, supportive parents.  Jodee was very intelligent, and began being bullied because she stuck up for deaf children in a special program at her school.  From then on, the bullying followed her, even with school changes.  She had a few times of beginning to fit in, but something always happened to make classmates turn on her.  In High School, a disfigurement of her chest was noticed by another girl in the locker room, and that made the taunting even worse. 

This girl was not just bullied and taunted.  She was abused, physically and mentally.  I was amazed at what these children did to her, and Ms. Blanco does not hold back in telling the stories.  The language can also be rough at times, when she repeats what these bullies said to her.   This book is not the type of book I would normally read, yet I was intrigued by the subject matter.  Then once I received the book, I was so shocked at what this girl went through that I couldn't put the book down.  I was inspired by the author's strength for so many horrible years, and how she overcame her fears and was able to attend her High School reunion, confronting many of her attackers. She is a successful professional woman now, and is an advocate and speaker for anti-bullying programs.  In the back of the book, there is a Reader's Guide-Q & A with author Jodee Blanco, the author's professional biography, and a description of her Day-long Anti-bullying program called 'It's Not Just Joking Around'.    I would definitely recommend this book to adults who were bullied as children, parents of school-age children, and teachers. After reading this book, I am glad that I chose to homeschool my children!
 Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.