Wendy Bollen

The author was inspired to write this book by a real need in young people for practical strategies to help them deal with bullies. Traditional approaches to this simply don’t work (although well-intentioned) because they are based on misconceptions about bullies. This book takes a rather different, if controversial approach that is based on years of experience helping young people to stop being a victim. The author was previously a teacher but has worked for several years as a counselling psychologist and has run counselling services in a number of schools. She has done much research into the causes and effects of bullying and delivers training to schools on the most effective ways to tackle this problem. The Little Book Of Retorts- A Teenager’s Guide To Beating The Bullies is a short, non-fiction book or guide set out in sections rather than chapters. It is deliberately brief and intended to be user friendly in order to appeal to the teen market. The main section details retorts which are illustrated with appealing animal cartoon figures. The retorts are divided into several subsections to use as replies to specific types of comment, such as comments about being fat or being a geek. Other sections inform readers of the reasons bullies bully, who is likely to become a victim and how to use retorts confidently. As well as giving practical guidance and examples the book teaches cognitive behavioural strategies to help with anxiety and to overcome fear followed by some inspirational examples of people who have overcome bullying. Finally it offers a list of supportive helplines and websites.