Bystander - James Preller

Bystander by James Preller

 

I picked this one out because of Before You Go. I really liked James Preller's style and that story so I thought, 'read all the James Preller books!'

This one though didn't hit me as hard. 

It is about a very tough and prevalent subject matter. Bullying. 

But I didn't like the main characters reasoning and decision making. 

Preller did do something that I love. 

And that is tying landmarks and places between stories. 

In Before You Go Jude works at Jones Beach Concessions and there are a whole bunch of locations, West End Two and Pier Six. 

Preller talks about the company and those locations in Bystander  

Short synopsis

Eric Hayes is starting a new life with his mom on Long Island.
He's starting a new middle school right smack in the middle.
Being the new seventh grader is hard. The groups and cliques have already formed.
But Griffin Connelly seems to want to be Eric's friend.
Eric quickly realizes Griffin and his friends are bullies.
After a school assembly about bullying, Eric also realizes that he while he isn't a bully, being friends with Griffin and Co. means he is a bystander.
Eric isn't sure how he feels about this, but finds out the hard way, that bullies retaliate.

I honestly didn't like this book, and it's taken me weeks to finish this post.
I can't pinpoint the reason anymore than just Eric's judgement and decision making.
I dreaded the ending, and while it turned out alright, I didn't feel the lesson was strong enough for a YA novel.

Credit:
Amazon - in case you're into buying
James Preller - author website

Read on.
Jessica.

Before You Go - James Preller

Before You Go by James Preller





I finished this back in March but didn't have time to write about it because of school.
I checked this out way back then, but I don't remember if I pulled it or if Darrell recommended it.

I must be magnetically attracted to books about tragedy, so of course this one is tragic as well. And so are the next two. It must be a disease.

This one has no happy ending, unfortunately. But it is a good book nonetheless. I read this over a month ago, and while I don't rememeber all the details, I remember I don't really want to reread the tragedy. So my synopsis might be a little dry.

Short synopsis:

Jude starts his summer with a new not so glamerous job, but is dertermined to make new friends, and hopefully continue to put his past behind him. Eight??? (I can't remember exactly how many) years before he lost his little sister to a tragic accident. Since then his barely kept together family, has been trying not to fall apart. It's an event that continually haunts Jude, so he hopes that this summer will liven up his life a litte bit. He meets a girl, and hopes that maybe his luck and his life are finally looking up. (Of course this can't be accurate, I don't read happily ever after books!!!) Then tragically, you have to read the book. Because I haven't given any endings away yet, I don't want to spoil it for anyone.

Credit:
Amazon - in case you're into buying
James Preller - author website

Read on.
Jessica.