Scan barcode
hezann73's review against another edition
4.0
A bit of a tidy ending, but a very interesting look at bullying and it's different forms
High School
High School
jlytle1025's review against another edition
3.0
This was a good book that is relevant to stuff that happens everyday. I didn't care for the ending as I was left hanging but all in all a good read.
andrea_n's review against another edition
5.0
I really did love this book. It hits on the big topic of bullying and just how far it can get out of hand. I found this book to be heart-warming, funny, and emotional. I'm very happy that I read it.
elisquared's review against another edition
5.0
Review to come! But in the mean time I URGE you to pick this book up. I haven't read something so heart-wrenching in a while.
mrhslibrary's review against another edition
5.0
What a great book! I was hooked immediately from the get go. What I found so intriguing was that this was from the Bully's point of view, which was a vast contrast with most of the anti-bullying books available. The main character, Dan, was so believable. I feel that any reader can relate to what he experiences as far as being a bully and not realizing the full implication of his actions. A definite must read for any one and a great fit for anti-bullying themes.
bletheringbooks's review against another edition
4.0
We are in a new age of bullying. No longer seen by teachers or parents. Technology has taken over our lives and this allows bullies to get to their victims any time via mobiles, internet, and gaming, thus increasing incidents of ‘gang bullying’ where attacks can come from many others – who previously would not say anything – publicly on social networking sites, for example. Many people can now comment, laugh and join in the taunting without necessarily feeling like the traditional bully. This novel tackles this new type of bulling and shows the true destruction it causes. It shows the destruction it can cause to both the victims, their families and the bully.
Our protagonist Dan has a dark secret that he tries to hide but is unable to stay out of trouble when he takes it upon himself to look out for Brandon. Brandon is bullied relentlessly and Dan cannot just watch. Not this time.
Patty Blount has taken an interesting take on this novel by casting Dan as the protagonist – compared to more traditional bullying books where the victim is the protagonist. This is a striking idea and helps show the pain Dan goes through knowing that his partaking in cyber bullying pushed one kid over the edge to kill himself. Dan suffered. Dan is still suffering. This is why he can’t watch Brandon continue to go through hell without at least one friend at his side.
Being British means I do not know much about American High Schools except from what I have learned from watching TV and previous books. This book will be easier to read for Americans but is still very relevant for others. A book that teachers and parents must read to understand how things have changed. One for teens to read to learn from, to relate too, and to understand. To understand that there is no easy answers but there are better options.
Send has discussion questions that would be perfect in the classroom. A novel we can all learn from, written at an accessible level with many issues built into one. It deals primarily with bullying but also deals with grief, loss, punishment, mental illness, growth, love and many more.
A novel capturing the truly destructive nature of humanity but the healing nature of time and hindsight.Yet without discounting the scars time cannot heal.
Our protagonist Dan has a dark secret that he tries to hide but is unable to stay out of trouble when he takes it upon himself to look out for Brandon. Brandon is bullied relentlessly and Dan cannot just watch. Not this time.
Patty Blount has taken an interesting take on this novel by casting Dan as the protagonist – compared to more traditional bullying books where the victim is the protagonist. This is a striking idea and helps show the pain Dan goes through knowing that his partaking in cyber bullying pushed one kid over the edge to kill himself. Dan suffered. Dan is still suffering. This is why he can’t watch Brandon continue to go through hell without at least one friend at his side.
Being British means I do not know much about American High Schools except from what I have learned from watching TV and previous books. This book will be easier to read for Americans but is still very relevant for others. A book that teachers and parents must read to understand how things have changed. One for teens to read to learn from, to relate too, and to understand. To understand that there is no easy answers but there are better options.
Send has discussion questions that would be perfect in the classroom. A novel we can all learn from, written at an accessible level with many issues built into one. It deals primarily with bullying but also deals with grief, loss, punishment, mental illness, growth, love and many more.
A novel capturing the truly destructive nature of humanity but the healing nature of time and hindsight.Yet without discounting the scars time cannot heal.
endlessreader's review against another edition
2.0
Here there be some spoilers so read at your own risk!
If I could, I would give Send infinite stars...not because it was a fantastic book (clearly my 3 star rating indicates that I did NOT feel like it was a fantastic book), but because it got me out of a particularly brutal reading slump. If I were rating this book solely on whether or not it was engaging, I would also give it five stars. But I'm not, so I didn't.
Send was one of those books that had the potential to be amazing. Send was told in the view of a repentant, former bully. This was the chance for a writer to truly get into what makes a bully tick and why they do the things they do. However, I feel like this didn't happen in Send. We know what Dan/Ken did, but we get no insight into why. We do know that this one singular event shaped his life, but we're not given any reason as to why he did what he did. All we get are other characters saying that he was a good kid before the event. I would've liked to know more about Dan/Ken's life prior to juvie. In fact, I would've liked to know a little more about all of the characters...I feel like there should have been more depth to them as I found them a bit surface-level.
Another issue with Send was Julie. I couldn't stand her or her bipolar, cold shoulder, wishy-washy behavior. At the end, I did sort of understand where she was coming from, but even then, I was still aggravated with her jerky, hypocritical behavior. Due to my immense dislike of the character, I was nowhere near invested in the romance aspect between Julie and Dan.
However, my biggest issue with Send was the ambiguous ending. Nothing upsets me more than a half-assed ending. Give me a good, uplifting ending or give me a depressing ending...just actually GIVE me an ending. Now, I'm not talking about an actual ending to the romance (as I couldn't care less about Dan/Julie's relationship), but rather a conclusive ending when it came to Dan's inner voice. I just wanted some sort of closure...be it good or bad.
So overall, I was disappointed with Send. I did think that it was an engaging page-turner and I do applaud it for trying to send a message about the dangers of bullying. I also did like the whole plot point with Kenny inside of Dan's head. However, I felt like Send just could've been so much deeper and fulfilling.
If I could, I would give Send infinite stars...not because it was a fantastic book (clearly my 3 star rating indicates that I did NOT feel like it was a fantastic book), but because it got me out of a particularly brutal reading slump. If I were rating this book solely on whether or not it was engaging, I would also give it five stars. But I'm not, so I didn't.
Send was one of those books that had the potential to be amazing. Send was told in the view of a repentant, former bully. This was the chance for a writer to truly get into what makes a bully tick and why they do the things they do. However, I feel like this didn't happen in Send. We know what Dan/Ken did, but we get no insight into why. We do know that this one singular event shaped his life, but we're not given any reason as to why he did what he did. All we get are other characters saying that he was a good kid before the event. I would've liked to know more about Dan/Ken's life prior to juvie. In fact, I would've liked to know a little more about all of the characters...I feel like there should have been more depth to them as I found them a bit surface-level.
Another issue with Send was Julie. I couldn't stand her or her bipolar, cold shoulder, wishy-washy behavior. At the end, I did sort of understand where she was coming from, but even then, I was still aggravated with her jerky, hypocritical behavior. Due to my immense dislike of the character, I was nowhere near invested in the romance aspect between Julie and Dan.
However, my biggest issue with Send was the ambiguous ending. Nothing upsets me more than a half-assed ending. Give me a good, uplifting ending or give me a depressing ending...just actually GIVE me an ending. Now, I'm not talking about an actual ending to the romance (as I couldn't care less about Dan/Julie's relationship), but rather a conclusive ending when it came to Dan's inner voice. I just wanted some sort of closure...be it good or bad.
So overall, I was disappointed with Send. I did think that it was an engaging page-turner and I do applaud it for trying to send a message about the dangers of bullying. I also did like the whole plot point with Kenny inside of Dan's head. However, I felt like Send just could've been so much deeper and fulfilling.
chrissy24's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book a lot, really brought back memories of going to school and the bullying that happens. I didn't like how the book just ended and kind of left you still thinking.
justanotherreaderofwords's review against another edition
5.0
Personally, I felt like this book had a rocky start. I was a bit confused, but by the third to fourth chapter, I was getting hooked. This book was very emotional and made me want to learn more about Dan, whose real name is Kenneth James Mele, it was interesting to see how Patty incorporated Dan's real name, how she entwined the characters, Julie and Dan. I really loved how Dan protected Brandon and was able to get him to understand that his situation was far better than the one Dan had along with getting Jeff to be friends with Brandon again. The lessons the book resonates is not something to be missed, it shows that life is not something you should screw up because if you are given a second chance which is rare, you gotta live with what you did in the first place. There are consequences for all actions no matter how big or small. Friends should be honest with one another no matter how a struggle things can be, friends will try to understand and help in the best way possible. Do not carry a burden alone it takes a community to make a person stronger. Bullying and trying to fix things your own way can cause more problems, learn to let people in and open up to understand that life is not a game, it is real and sometimes everyone needs a helping hand. This book was definitely worth the read, it shocked me sometimes and made me think about choices I have made whether they were right or wrong, but I understood why I made those choices, would I do it over again? Not so sure.
thebumblegirl's review against another edition
4.0
This is one unforgettable book. SEND covers it all - bullying, relationships between parents, friends and more than just friends, suicide and more. It was an emotional roller coaster...
Patty Blount definitely did her research - she knew exactly how to bring the situation and all of the characters to life. I was a bit hesitant to accept this book for review. Just from the summary, I felt that I had no business reading a book from a bully's point-of-view. I was determined to read it and not like it, and not like Dan.
I was so wrong.
Once I found out how old Kenny was when he clicked "send", what his sentence was, what happened to him in juvie, what happened when he got out of juvie and so on, my heart really ached for the boy. Yes, he was a bully. But he was the type of bully where a lot of people, including his parents, probably saw him as just 'having a little fun with the boys'. Being a boy at 12/13 nowadays is really tough. Some boys stay boys while others hit puberty and are already shaving. And until that growth spurt, a lot of parents still see their pre-teen boys as their little babies and treat them as their typical little boys that should be wearing 'under-roos' and playing sports, rather than listen to them and find out what it is that they are really interested in.
This book also hit pretty close to home. The setting takes place on Long Island, where I live, and this was the first time that I was reading something that is 5 minutes from where I live. I have driven down these roads and towns on a weekly basis. I have passed by these schools and stores. It was really eerie to read and I had to remind myself, over and over again, that this was not a true story.
SEND has opened my eyes even further when it comes to bullying. It is a reminder on how we should be listening to our kids. They are our children - we live with them, take care of them - it baffles my mind on how some parents really don't see when their child is suffering, depressed or being bullied. I know that some kids hide their feelings. But there are so many clues to pick up on. This was truly an eye-opener for me, even though my boys are still very young, all of this can happen at any age. I get all teary eye and my heart aches just thinking about what all the characters, Kenny, Dan, Brandon, Julie and Liam, went through. No child, or family, should have to go through so much heartache.
I highly recommend this book, for parents, teachers, schools and children who are 8 years old and up. Yes, the book is geared for 12 and up, and there is some swearing and it gets a bit graphic. But I am quite sure that the 8 to 12 crowd are smarter than we give them credit for. And in this day and age, with computers and so on, it is never too safe to start teaching our kids from what's right and wrong.
*** There is a giveaway for Send on my blog which ends on August 20th, 2012:
http://bumblesandfairytales.blogspot.com/2012/08/blog-tour-it-only-takes-one-click-send.html
Patty Blount definitely did her research - she knew exactly how to bring the situation and all of the characters to life. I was a bit hesitant to accept this book for review. Just from the summary, I felt that I had no business reading a book from a bully's point-of-view. I was determined to read it and not like it, and not like Dan.
I was so wrong.
Once I found out how old Kenny was when he clicked "send", what his sentence was, what happened to him in juvie, what happened when he got out of juvie and so on, my heart really ached for the boy. Yes, he was a bully. But he was the type of bully where a lot of people, including his parents, probably saw him as just 'having a little fun with the boys'. Being a boy at 12/13 nowadays is really tough. Some boys stay boys while others hit puberty and are already shaving. And until that growth spurt, a lot of parents still see their pre-teen boys as their little babies and treat them as their typical little boys that should be wearing 'under-roos' and playing sports, rather than listen to them and find out what it is that they are really interested in.
This book also hit pretty close to home. The setting takes place on Long Island, where I live, and this was the first time that I was reading something that is 5 minutes from where I live. I have driven down these roads and towns on a weekly basis. I have passed by these schools and stores. It was really eerie to read and I had to remind myself, over and over again, that this was not a true story.
SEND has opened my eyes even further when it comes to bullying. It is a reminder on how we should be listening to our kids. They are our children - we live with them, take care of them - it baffles my mind on how some parents really don't see when their child is suffering, depressed or being bullied. I know that some kids hide their feelings. But there are so many clues to pick up on. This was truly an eye-opener for me, even though my boys are still very young, all of this can happen at any age. I get all teary eye and my heart aches just thinking about what all the characters, Kenny, Dan, Brandon, Julie and Liam, went through. No child, or family, should have to go through so much heartache.
I highly recommend this book, for parents, teachers, schools and children who are 8 years old and up. Yes, the book is geared for 12 and up, and there is some swearing and it gets a bit graphic. But I am quite sure that the 8 to 12 crowd are smarter than we give them credit for. And in this day and age, with computers and so on, it is never too safe to start teaching our kids from what's right and wrong.
*** There is a giveaway for Send on my blog which ends on August 20th, 2012:
http://bumblesandfairytales.blogspot.com/2012/08/blog-tour-it-only-takes-one-click-send.html