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Using fiction to smash stereotypes 21/03/25
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Hold On
Publisher: Hachette
After a chance meeting with John on holiday in Florida, Annie realises that he sees her as a lifeline against the relentless bullying he suffers at school. When he commits suicide on his return, she vows to pursue those who persecuted him, only to discover that John was fighting those far closer to him than she had imagined, and that the past, although it should inform the future, must never dominate it.
Among a growing resource of novels addressing bullying, Gibbons stands out for his insight into the loneliness and despair suffered by its victims, and for the realisation that it is a complex issue which can spring from a combination of several problems.
