Say Something: 10th Anniversary Edition Paperback – October 22, 2013

On Sunday night, we had our next Family Focus Trait family meeting about being upstanders. During this meeting, we read the book Say Something by Peggy Moss, illustrated by Lea Lyon, and we went through a few role plays in which we practiced what we might say or do to be upstanders. Read on to learn about Say Something.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Sometimes, it's hard to stand up to others when you know they're doing something wrong. It can be exceptionally hard when what they're doing is hurtful to a person (as opposed to other behaviors such as littering or defacing public property...), because we naturally fear that they'll turn their attention to us, and we'll be on the receiving end of the mean behavior instead.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀In Say Something, the protagonist has witnessed many children being mean to others. Sometimes they are picked on, or called names, or have things thrown at them, or laughed at. The main character is very clear to say that she doesn't do any of those things, but she doesn't say anything to stop them either.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Then, one day, her friends are absent from school and she finds herself eating lunch alone in the cafeteria. Some kids come over and start to tell funny jokes, funny enough to make her laugh. Funny enough, that is, until the jokes are about her. She fights back tears, wishing she could just disappear... But when the mean kids leave and she has a chance to look around, she is shocked by what she sees.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀All around her, children she knew just sat and watched. They didn't tell the jokes, and they didn't laugh, but they also didn't help her.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀She recounts her experience to her brother that afternoon, telling him how mad she is at the kids who just sat and watched. He asks why she's mad at them, since after all, "They didn't do anything." Her response? "Right."⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Right. They didn't do anything. And that hurts too.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀We read this book and we talked about how much both behaviors hurt. It's hard to be an upstander, but we are hopeful that these intentional discussions and opportunities to practice will allow our girls to have the courage to stand up, rather than not do anything.

This book ended very suddenly (these were my 6 years exact words when we read this book). Just when the lesson was to be learned and we could grow as understanding people, it stopped. Because of this, I think the whole point of the book (to stand up for others and not remain silent even if you are not affected by bullying, etc.) is not really explained in a way a child could fully grasp- too much is just implied. The illustration is lovely, but writing and story arch just missed the mark.

As a retired classroom teacher, I have read many books to classes over the years. This book stands out as one of the best, both for it's message, it's illustrations, and writing style. I now use the book in the anti-viollence program that I teach in schools.The story sends a powerful message to children (and adults) about taking action to change injustices that we see. There are times when we notice things that are unfair or mean, but we believe that we are doing enough to feel sorry for those who are the brunt of such unkindnesses. The story clearly demonstrates the importance of moving beyond feeling sympathy to feeling empathy. We must speak up for others and do something that makes a difference.The ending provides the students with provocative food for thought to initiate a reflective discussion. This book is suitable for 2nd through 6th graders, and even beyond!

Say Something portrays an enormous message with a minimum number of words. As I read it to my class of 3rd graders, their response was immediate and powerful. They identified with the characters on many levels, and for the first few pages, thought that being a silent, "innocent" bystander WAS the right thing to do. As the story went on, their faces and comments demonstrated that they had reached the realization that they had the power to help. Months later, they still talk about the concepts introduced to them in the story. When we discuss problems at Class Meeting, it's not unusual to hear, "We have to look out for each other. Nobody wants to be a bystander!"

The book is fine. Yes, it ends abruptly but I use it in my classroom to have a discussion.The issue is that the Kindle version is missing entire pages. You can only see half of the pictures. I tried on 3 devices and they were all the same. I requested and am waiting for a refund.

This is one of the many books I use at the beginning of the school year and break out when students need a reminder about how to treat others.

This book has become a favorite of my 4-year-old and has sparked some very good conversations about why friends are mean to each other, what it means to be a friend, the importance of being nice and standing up for your friends...Based on my training as a school psychologist, I know the the key to addressing bullying is to create a climate amongst students whereby it is not tolerated. Thus, I appreciate that the book focuses on children as bystanders and encourages ALL children to stand up to bullies in their school.

Great book! The students really seem to "get it" and how they are contributing to the bullying problem by not reporting bullying. The story just kind of ends without any real conclusion, but I encourage the students to add their own ending or suppose what might happen next. I think this is an excellent story of being a bystander and what we can do differently to help someone who is being bullied.

I bought a range of book on bullying for myself and my 7-year old as she is experiencing some problems with her friends at school. This book has a good message to get across, however I found it a bit inconsistent in the following sense. First, for a 7-year old the book is not very exciting - the phrases are very short on each page, the drawings are a bit abstract. On the other hand, the message is not extremely clear so I had to talk about it and impress on my daughter that one has to say things etc. when somebody is bullied. Since she is an independent reader, this defies the point slightly, I was expecting her to first read it herself and understand what was going on but had to make a lengthy explanation straight away...

I read this book with both of my kids. Loved it! It prompted helpful conversations and equipped them with new ways to confidently engage with other children in their circle.

This text is excellent for teaching students about standing up for others. I often use this text to create dramatic role play through Tableau and my students are able to make rich connections to the situations in the text.

Helps child to see what it's like in someone else's shoes and take a different perspective in a bullying situation.