Standing Aside

Authors Note:This book is book of my favorites. I found many connections and I recommend this book highly.

If you have ever bullied someone or been bullied what type was it? Every time bullying happens there is usually a bystander that could have done something, just like my book. Bystander is about a kid that is on the sidelines when it comes to bullying, yet he will have to take a stand at some point. I think this book is great for readers at the middle school level. The author is teaching us a lesson about bullying, and the lesson is you should choose your friends wisely. I recommend this book highly, and it is one of my favorites even though some parts make me depressed because of betrayal.


Speaking of betrayal, Eric is betrayed by Griffin and I think the author is trying to teach us a lesson through that moment in the book, which is you have to know what you are getting into otherwise you could be in a lot of trouble. Yet the author is also emphasizing on the main message, choose you’re friends wisely. It didn’t take long for Eric to figure out Griffin was stealing from him.


Eric isn’t the only one not to choose his friends wisely. Many characters in my book that are “in” with Griffin are rethinking there decision. One of the main people to rethink there decision is Cody who is Griffin’s right hand man. Cody can be nice when he’s not mad, he is a master at karate which his teacher tries to teach him when not in jail. Eric got beat up by Cody because Griffin told Cody what Eric said about him. The odd thing is that Eric only said it once at the beginning of the school year in front of Griffin at a grocery store, so Griffin remembered the whole time and the second Eric got suspicious Griffin turned on him.


Speaking of suspicious, Eric is always suspicious about his dad. Eric’s dad ran away from home and calls Eric’s family from time to time. What makes me depressed is why Eric’s dad left. His dad had mental conditions and started to take medicine, yet he hated it and sometimes would skip taking it and go back to being unstable. One day when Eric was little, his dad was yelling at Eric’s mom “Wash the dishes!?!? I’ll wash the dishes!!!!” then he threw the dishes in the sink letting them crash and he walked out the door. That chapter is my favorite because of two things, Eric thinks of something that I can never forget: yes, it is a tragedy when people get their fingers stuck in a machine and lose them, .or when people get in a car accident and lose a leg or the ability to see. But the worst thing to lose is your mind, no matter what. The second thing is when you know Griffin has turned on Eric because Griffin taunted Eric saying “Why punch me I'm just an innocent bystander the real person you want to punch is your dad.” Then Eric’s mind went into a complete shutdown mode of anger, but Eric shouldn’t have been that close of friends to Griffin in the fist place. 


Every paragraph here has one thing in common: I keep emphasizing on choosing your friends wisely. I couldn't imagine how better off Eric would be if he had just steered clear of Griffin. This would be a great book for middle school age students. After reading Bystander, I realized how fortunate I am to have such loyal friends.