Baskin, Nora Raleigh. Runt.

Baskin, Nora Raleigh.  Runt.  Simon & Schuster  2013  208p  ISBN 978-1-4424-5807-9 ms    VG    Realistic fiction

Bullying exists in middle school just the same way it exists in the animal kingdom.  In this creative treatment of a contemporary topic, author Nora Baskin draws a parallel between the pecking orders in the world of dogs and in the world of young teenagers.  Throughout the story she changes the point of view, thus sharing the thoughts of everyone involved in her portrayal of the bully and the bullied.  Elizabeth eternally carries the smell of her mother’s kennel to school, and triggers the bullying when she brags about her poetry-writing skills in English class one day.  Her ex-friend Maggie pulls off cyber bullying to the max when she creates a person2person page about “Smelly-Girl”, who is, of course, Elizabeth.  Elizabeth discovers the page devoted to her on the internet and must choose between seeking revenge and accepting the taunt.

After Stewart urinates on Matthew’s sneakers in the boys’ bathroom at school, Matthew punches him in the nose and is suspended from school.  It is during his stay-at-home period of introspection that he realizes that he accomplished little by hurting the perpetrator because he is miserable at home.  The author successfully leads the reader to despise middle-school cruelty, and older readers will wonder how they ever survived middle school.  The best part of this book lies in the early pages, in which each stage of bullying finds a parallel story in Elizabeth’s mother’s dog kennel, as dogs find their positions in their world in much the same way that humans do.  Baskin does not need to evoke sympathy for Stewart by showing his confusion at growing up in a house with a sister who is a special-needs student.  Readers will despise him too much to try to understand him.

On page 116, the word “an” is missing before “offer”, and there is a spacing error on page 119.  Capitalization of “internet” is found on some pages and not on others. 

Summary: Elizabeth and Matthew, as the victims of bullying, navigate the ensuing pain and embarrassment in a world where there are no clear-cut solutions, and they find that developing coping skills and inner strength is more important than seeking revenge.             

Bullying-Fiction, Middle School-Fiction               --Martha Squaresky