Megan Elinski (Children's Literature)
Parkland Middle School, often called Darkland, is notorious for bullying and harassment among its students. When three students--Russell, a reserved teen; Elliot, a dinosaur fanatic; and Catalina a new girl--get bullied, they team up to take a stand against the problem. With the school’s “Kidnet” e-mail system, the students create a newsletter, The Revealer, to tell of their bullying experiences. When other students begin e-mailing their own accounts of run-ins with the bullies, it helps the three creators of the newsletter realize that they are not the only ones who are subject to bullying and fearful of coming to school. The newsletter becomes such a hit around the school that the bullying stops for many students. Yet, once the administration discovers the newsletter, the story takes a surprising turn. The research on middle schools, upon which the author based this novel, is very apparent. The way the author describes the transition from the family-like environment of an elementary school to the big, new world of middle school, as well as the cliques--jocks, beauty queens, and dorks--makes it easy for readers to identify with the characters. Since many children are impacted by bullying every day, this book will be a great asset to any classroom. 2003, Douglas & McIntyre Ltd, $16.00. Ages 9 to 12.

Janet L. Rose (Children's Literature)
What happens if you are prey and continually stalked from the moment you leave school until you arrive home? Every waking moment you live in fear and continually plan survival strategies? When Russell starts 7th grade he becomes Richie's target and he doesn't know why. He decides to ask the two kids, Elliot and Catalina, who are lowest on the pecking order, the ones who are always being teased and picked on. While sticking together like a herd of plant-eating dinosaurs, they research better ways to handle bullies. Eliot decides to fight back with his tormentors, but ends up in the hospital. Catalina tells her story via email to every 7th grader and girls start noticing her and want to be her friend. On a special network set up for students, the threesome decides to reveal what is happening to other students who have been bullied. Bringing situations out in the open causes many students to help the underdog and reduce bullying. But one day, one of the bullies writes an anonymous letter accusing herself of plagiarism. When it is published in School-net, she shows her lawyer father who convinces the principal to put a stop to the student's network. Even though bullying had decreased significantly, the principal closes down access. Eliot, Catalina, and Russell find another way, however, to prove their results and bring about change. These three are not alone. Bullying is a real problem in many schools and this book could bring about more awareness. 2003, Farrar Straus and Giroux, $16.00. Ages 10 to 14.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2003 (Vol. 71, No. 18))
A thought-provoking experiment about bullying and how to handle it. Seventh-grader Russell suddenly and inexplicably becomes the target of another boy's fists, so Russell asks Elliot-not a friend, but the school's general punching bag-for advice. Elliot distracts himself in a world of dinosaurs, but soon the boys become friends with Catalina (another tormented seventh-grader) and the three create an online forum called Revealer, where students tell their own stories of bullying and being bullied. Seeds of understanding sprout around the school as more and more stories come out. A late, well-crafted triumph of the aggressors almost crushes hope, but once again, going public proves invaluable. It's unclear why certain mean characters seem less bad by the end, and the parental passivity is sometimes hard to believe; however, Wilhelm poses intriguing questions about the role computer networks can play in rebellions, kids' lives, and possibly grander politics as well. 2003, Farrar Straus & Giroux, $16.00. Category: Fiction. Ages 10 to 13. © 2003 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ruth E. Cox (Library Media Connection, March 2004)
Russell has been targeted by one of Parkland (called Darkland by the students) Middle School's bullies. When taking alternate routes home doesn't work, Russell enlists the aid of Elliot, the much-abused seventh grade class geek, for advice. The two boys and Catalina, the new girl in school, decide to use the school's intra-school student e-mail network to fight back. Catalina's poignant response to the vicious rumors about her ethnicity and the absence of her mother, who remained in the Philippines, is the first message sent to all seventh graders. Students begin to respond to Catalina's message, telling their own stories of being bullied. Elliot compiles the responses, creating an online newsletter called The Revealer. The principal shuts down student access to intra-school e-mail when the three friends are tricked into libeling a fellow student. But all ends well when, using the scientific method, they design a multi-media project for the science fair that gives survey-based data indicating the extent of the bullying in the school. They also prove that the very student supposedly libeled set them up. The adult judges recognize the value of the student e-mail system in counteracting the bullying problem and encourage the principal to keep this avenue of communication open to the students. This is an excellent resource for middle school counselors and for classroom use. Highly Recommended. 2003, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 207pp., $16 hc. Ages 10 to 14.

Elizabeth Bush (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, October 2003 (Vol. 57, No. 2))
Seventh-grader Russell Trainor is a blip on the radar of an eighth-grade bully, and he teams up with Elliot, long-suffering schoolyard prey, and Catalina, a Filipina transfer student who’s being harassed by a clique of popular girls, to study their predicaments scientifically and devise a defense. Catalina’s plan actually works. She issues a statement of fact about her past to all seventh-grade students through the school LAN, and her simple, dignified approach quickly catches the attention and respect of many classmates. Elliot follows with an impassioned, if inaccurate and vitriolic, counterattack on the guys who bully him and, again, students take notice and begin to respond with their own horror stories. Thus is born The Revealer, an electronic airing of the school’s dirty laundry that rockets the three friends to near respectability. Catalina’s nemesis, however, counts on the kids’ publishing naïveté and sets up a sting that lands them on the brink of a libel suit and results in the revocation of LAN privileges for the whole school. With the help of a sympathetic English teacher (whose dewy-eyed idealism and classroom cluelessness is a total hoot) and a technophilic LAN administrator (whose bumbling, guffawing kid camaraderie is nearly as funny), the trio sets the Parkland Middle School world back to rights. Although Wilhelm stretches events out a bit longer than necessary and squeezes some discussion into programmatically constructed assignments on Anne Frank, he shines a harsh light on many facets of bullying and never, even at the novel’s rosiest moments, implies that every bully is a good kid just waiting to be redeemed. Middle-schoolers will appreciate the honesty. (Reviewed from galleys) Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2003, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2003, Farrar, 224p, $16.00. Grades 5-9.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 2004)
Tired of being bullied, three new friends use their middle school's electronic network to tell their stories, sparking others to share their experiences with harassment. Compiling the tales into an e-newsletter, the students feel a palpable shift in their school's tolerance for bullying, until the paper is accused of libel. Issues of bullying and alienation are handled frankly in this multilayered tale. Category: Older Fiction. 2003, Farrar, 209pp, $16.00. Ages 12 to 14. Rating: 3: Recommended, satisfactory in style, content, and/or illustration.

Janet Henderson (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 16, No. 4))
Jurassic Park has nothing over Parkland Middle School. Nicknamed “Darkland” by the students who attend it, the characterization is appropriate. The halls of the school are filled with fearsome predators who prey upon weaker members of the “nerd herd.” At least, that’s how the three misfits Russell, Elliot, and Catalina see the bullies who make their lives miserable. In an effort to shed light on what’s going on at Darkland, and in search of a strategy for survival, the three friends form a “bully lab” to study the problem. Then, they come up with an innovative solution. First Catalina, then Elliot make their voices heard in a powerful way by posting their stories on the school intranet. Soon, other students who have been bullied or harassed begin telling their stories--and there are a lot. Thus, The Darkland Revealer is born, an intranet “underground” newspaper that sheds light on the situation at Parkland. Of course, this successful grassroots rag can’t continue without repercussions. The “cool” predators strike with a vengeance and put the “geeky” herbivores in their place, shutting down the Revealer. However, the erstwhile editors do not give up; they decide to pursue their research of the bullying problem using other methods. Their findings are “revealing.” Although bullying and harassment is a serious and pervasive problem at schools, the tone of THE REVEALERS is far from “gloom and doom”. It is actually one of optimism and empowerment. Russell, whose quirky sense of humor offers some comic relief, narrates the story. When the most-feared bully at school, Richie, complains to Russell that his bike is in his [Richie’s] way, Russell shakes his finger at his bike, chiding, “Bad bike! Don’t ever do that again!” This book offers hope that kids can find a creative solution to a perennial and serious problem. This book was nominated for the 2004 ALA Teens Top Ten Books. Fiction, Highly Recommended. Grades 5-8. 2003, Farrar Straus Giroux, 207p., $16.00. Ages 10 to 14.

Heather Acerro (VOYA, February 2004 (Vol. 26, No. 6))
At the start of seventh grade, Russell's reality has changed. Suddenly he does not fit in, his friends are gone, and he is tormented repeatedly by the biggest bully at Parkland Middle School. Unsure of how to save himself, he seeks advice from Elliot Gekewicz, the kid that everyone picks on. The boys meet Catalina, a new girl who is being harassed by the cool girl clique. The three outcasts band together to create The Revealer, an e-mail newsletter that publishes bully encounters to the student body using the school's local area network (LAN). When Russell makes the most popular girl in school angry, she tricks him into publishing a false story. This action results in the principal prohibiting student access to the LAN. Predictably, when the revealers are at their lowest, they submit the winning entry in the Creative Science Fair, attracting the attention of the school board chair and regaining access to the LAN for the students. Teasing and bullying are pervasive problems in any middle school, but this book lacks a realistic feel. The characters are two-dimensional and do not speak like seventh graders. Also, it is unclear why the adults in the book do not take more action when youth are being slugged in the face and dropped off bridges. Although the use of the Internet to improve student life is an interesting concept, overall the book fails to engage the reader. VOYA CODES: 2Q 2P M (Better editing or work by the author might have warranted a 3Q; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8). 2003, Farrar Straus Giroux, 224p., $16. Ages 11 to 14.