“Four Stars: A look at how one thoughtless act can destroy so many lives.Dan wants a clean start at his new school for his senior year. He is desperately trying to move beyond the horrors that have plagued him for the last five years. When he was thirteen, Dan was a young boy named Kenny who posted a picture of a fellow classmate in cartoon underwear on the internet. That one thoughtless act resulted in the boy's suicide. Kenny was sent to juvenile detention and has paid dearly for his mistake. Now at eighteen his family has moved numerous times, sacrificed tremendously and tried in vain to put their lives back together. Kenny changed his name to Dan and his family has moved to another home in hopes of a new beginning. The only problem, this one juvenile act not only cost the life of the victim, but it has destroyed the lives of countless others. Dan hopes that he can fly below the radar and graduate. All his plans of remaining incognito go out the window when he arrives at his new school and finds a bully picking a fight with another student in the parking lot. When no one intervenes, Dan jumps in and breaks up the fight. Can he somehow help this fellow student? Can he ever make amends for his online mistake? What I Liked:*I am a big fan of books that take on the troubling topic of bullying, whether it be physical, verbal, or online abuse. I think that the old school thinking that bullying is part of growing up is wrong. Things are far worse these days when kids can go online and post vicious attacks against a fellow student under the guise of anonymity. Abusing another human is unacceptable and it is time we all realize this and take a stand. I applaud Ms. Blount's efforts to call attention to this hot issue. Her book, Send, brings us the story of a young man who at thirteen made a huge mistake in posting a picture of a fellow student he was bullying. His seemingly stupid act destroyed so many lives. This book discusses the far reaching consequences of his juvenile mistake. *I appreciated that this book not only discusses the consequences for the victim but it takes a realistic and in depth look at what happens to the perpetrator and their family. Can you imagine ruining the life of not only your victim but their family and your family not to mention the destruction of your future and your dreams? This book will make you sit up and take notice of how one act whether it was meant to be a harmless prank or something worse can be like a pebble tossed into a clear, glassy lake. That one small pebble will create ripples and waves that reach far across the water. Just like one stupid moment can devastate so many lives. I shudder to think of all the stupid things that we all do as we grow up. I hope that this book will help kids to realize that posting harmful things on the internet is something that can haunt their lives forever.* I was surprised to find that I strongly sympathized with Dan. Yes, he was a bully who made a stupid mistake, but it cost him dearly. Seeing the guilt that he carries is heart breaking. Dan has the support of an amazing family that help pull him through. Without his family, things would have been far worse, and trust me they are bad enough. Watching Dan struggle to put his life back together was an eye opening experience. Of course, we all tend to sympathize with the victim, but this book brings to light the other side of the coin. Bullying is horrible for everyone involved. In the end, I was glad to see that Dan was trying to be a better person by his actions: stopping a bullying incident and helping a victim. And The Not So Much:*I have a few small considerations for this book. I wished that the actual event was discussed a bit more. The reader pieces together the story from splices of flashbacks and such but a firm, clear picture of what happened does not materialize until the final chapters. I think a more thorough depiction of the event early on would have elicited a more profound emotional impact. *The big twist and reveal was not a surprise, it was fairly obvious from the beginning what was going on. I liked Dan's involvement with Julie, but at the end I almost felt that the whole situation was a bit unrealistic. Nevertheless, the development makes an impact in that it shows how bullying devastates so many lives.*The ending is open ended and I found myself a bit disappointed in that I didn't get so see a little further down the path to see how everything turns out for Dan. I was also a bit frustrated that the situation between Brandon and his bully wasn't completely laid out. It was inferred that everything worked out, but I would love to see how the two diffused the situation and how they made amends.Send is a book that will stick with me. The story packs a big emotional punch and it opens your eyes to the dangerous, far reaching consequences of bullying online and in person. This a book that everyone should read as it brings up so many important points. I urge you to pick this one up and share it with the teenage readers in your life. Let's see if we can help put an end to this rise in bullying! Try to make the world a better place! Favorite Quotations:"For most people, the little voice in their heads was the voice of reason, a conscience or something. But mine was more like a mirror that reflected the things about me I wished nobody could ever see.""But eventually, everybody looks back on the stuff they used to do and winces.""The fist that connected with my face clinched it for me. God was bullied as a kid.""As she led me down the first corridor, she shot me a look so cold I was willing to bet it could freeze a nuclear explosion mid-mushroom cloud and still have enough power left over for the fires or Hell.""The days piled up, one on top of the other, the way they do when you fall into a routine. September bled into October with warm days, but the air lost that heavy wetness that made you feel like you were trying to breathe underwater.""So I sat by a rickety picnic table while summer hung on by its thumbs, slurping my cake flavored ice, imagining how I could fix all the crap in my life.""My God, was there anything women did not carry in their bags?""Eighteen year old men did not cry or admit to having cried. Ever.""When you're sure....when you feel it deep down in your gut...when you'd rather suffer in hell sitting through back-to-back chick flicks or enduring endless hours of shopping, holding her bags just so you wouldn't have to live a day without her, that's how you know it's real."I received a copy of this book courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I received no compensation and all opinions expressed are my own.”Orginally posted @ http://rainydayramblings.typepad.com/
A bit heavy handed tale of the long-term effects of bullying. I guess what's a little more fresh is that our hero is the bully, not the victim. After tormenting a boy named Liam and ultimately sending out a picture of the immature kids in cartoon underwear, Kenny, who changes his name to Dan, is made an example of. Sent to juvie for nine months, the show is on the other foot when other inmates attck him mercilessly. He develops his ability to fight back and even to protect his mind--or so it would seem--by leaving his 13-year-old self as a part of his psyche that talks to him and appears to him. After having changed schools upon his release to escape the harassment of Liam's father, the name change at last brings him as Dan to senior year at a school where he can't ven get out of the parking lot before he has to step in to help Brandon, victim of Jeff, and now he's embroiled in a whole new dynamic when he just wanted to travel under the radar. When he meets Julie, who also witnessed the parking lot attack and did nothing, they rub each other the wrong way but clearly share an attraction, too. Julie seems to have a complicated past of her own. Secrets will out, and they do over the course of a novel in which Dan (and his other half Kenny) can relate to Jeff the bully and Brandon, a victim who seems to be reaching a dangerous boiling point.The main criticism for me, keeping this novel from rising beyond fair to middling is a lack of distinction among characters and their voices. Everyone seems to be coming too much from the same brain, without those key differences that make reading a novel like meeting a great new crowd of people. Plot coincidences and events seem too piled on amd obvious as does its worthwhile but heavy handed moral.
Do You like book Send (2012)?
Dan is a complex character. He might not be the type of person that the readers could picture themselves liking, but I think the reader will make an exception for him. Having been through a lot, Dan is tough and hardened, but not so hardened that he won't help a fellow student from being bullied. Dan's stepping in may result in trouble for him, however. He knows he needs to protect his parents and grandfather from his past and he must keep a low profile. What did Dan do that was so horrible? Can he be forgiven?This book isn't the easiest read. The plot centers on bullying and suicide. The author writes fluidly and emotionally, injecting depth into many of the characters' conversations and actions. Dan's character is fairly even keel. He strongly believes that he must punish himself and deserved what he got. Julie, the mysterious love interest, has erratic hot and cold behavior that the reader may find annoying-but is there a reason? Brandon, the student being bullied, is a perfect foil for Dan. Brandon's character is so beaten down and angry that the readers will want to hug him, try to make him feel better, and yell at the bullies. Overall, the characters are believable and easy to relate to. They will remind the readers of that one student always bullied at school and the protective friend they may have had. Dan's past "transgression" and his current situation mirror each other very closely; the reader will love how everything ties together in the end. Although this book is certainly an emotional rollercoaster ride, it is certainly worth reading.
—Krystal
Wow! This book was actually pretty powerful! I really admire the author for writing such a powerful book about a touchy subject. Bullying!!!Daniel is an 18 year old boy with a very troubled past. He has a hard time trying to find the strength to forgive himself for the wrong that he has done and actually considers himself an awful person. He had done something terrible as a joke and it backfired on him to become a terrible tragedy. He was tried and served his time in a juvenile detention center.The book starts off with Daniel going to a different school and his first day there. Right from the beginning he starts off on the wrong foot by getting into an altercation with another student. That is when he meets Julie. He thinks Julie is stunning, but cannot stand the fact that she just sat there while another person was being bullied. This leads to many problems between the two.Now, this review would not be complete if I did not mention Kenny. Kenny is like Daniel’s alter ego. He is kind of like the little devil on the shoulder. He is a version of Daniel’s own self suspended in time at age 13. He lives inside Daniel’s head and only he can see or speak to him. There were many times that Kenny made me laugh out loud and he brought just the right amount of humor to this book.I really enjoyed this book and felt sorrow for both Daniel and Julie. They had both been affected by bullying in two different ways, but, by the end, they were willing to stand up for what they believed in. I wish that it would be books like this that are read throughout middle schools across the country for students to actually see how much harm can be done from being a bully. Also, for the kids being bullied to understand that they should stand up for themselves and not succumb to the darkness that can eat away at them.In closing, I thought that I would leave all of you with a few statistics:1 out of 4 teens are bullied.As many as 160,000 students stay home on any given day because they’re afraid of being bullied. 1/3 of students surveyed said they heard another student threaten to kill someone.2 out of 3 say they know how to make a bomb, or know where to get the information to do it. Playground statistics – Every 7 minutes a child is bullied. Adult intervention -4% Peer intervention – 11%. No intervention – 85%.
—NightlyReading Heather
There are things that I liked in Send, and things that I didn’t.I liked1.tSend by Patty Blount takes a different approach on bullying than books I’ve read previously. Rather than centers on a victim, it tells the readers about the bully himself. We see that bullying affects not only victim but also bully, as well as their families.2.tDan. He is a great main character. When I begin to read this book I wasn’t expecting to like Dan as him being the bully. But I couldn’t help but sympathize with him. There so much guilt and pain inside him, that it difficult to watch. He can’t forget his past, he thinks he should suffer. He makes a big journey trying to forgive and learning to love.3.tKenny. Kenny is thirteen years old Dan. Nobody, but Dan can see and hear him. Kenny lives in a room inside Dan’s head. It sounds bizarre but Patty Blount makes a great job here. Actually Kenny is my favorite character in this book. He helps understand Dan better. And I liked their banter, arguing and their tender moments.4.tMystery element. We don’t know what exactly happened with Dan in the past. The author gives us only snippets of information. Though the mystery aspect is not mind-blowing, I guessed early in the book, it makes this book more interesting. I didn’t like1.tSend wasn’t as emotional as I expected. I wanted it to be grittier, more heartbreaking.2.tRomance. It didn’t work for me. In my opinion there wasn’t any chemistry between Dan and Julie.3.tThis disturbing violent scene. (view spoiler)[The scene where Julie’s father beats Dan. (hide spoiler)]
—Ksenia
