Favourite books about difference, acceptance and bullying
Almost everyone gets bullied at some point in their life - so if this is happening to your child, they are not alone.
Here are some books to help teens who may be experiencing bullying or finding it tricky to make friends.
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We Come Apart
Author: Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan
Interest level: 12+
Reading age: 12+
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We Come Apart
Author: Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan
Interest level: 12+
Reading age: 12+
Written in free verse, this dual narrative story goes straight to the heart of Jess and Nicu’s friendship, exploring their f…
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White Lies, Black Dare
Author: Joanna Nadin
Interest level: 13+
Reading age: 13+
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White Lies, Black Dare
Author: Joanna Nadin
Interest level: 13+
Reading age: 13+
Determined to make friends in her new school, Asha partakes in a life-altering game of Truth or Dare. This fantastic story investi…
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Boys Don't Cry
Author: Malorie Blackman
Interest level: 14+
Reading age: 11+
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Boys Don't Cry
Author: Malorie Blackman
Interest level: 14+
Reading age: 11+
Dante is waiting for the postman. It's 'A' level results day and he has high hopes, but a knock on the door brings an old girlfrie…
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Kill All Enemies
Author: Melvin Burgess
Interest level: 13+
Reading age: 10+
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Kill All Enemies
Author: Melvin Burgess
Interest level: 13+
Reading age: 10+
There are always two sides to every story – who is making the rules, the young people or the adults?
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Silence is Goldfish
Author: Annabel Pitcher
Interest level: 13+
Reading age: 13+
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Silence is Goldfish
Author: Annabel Pitcher
Interest level: 13+
Reading age: 13+
Tess starts to question herself and her life when things start to fall apart, although she finds solace in a bright orange goldfis…
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The Harder They Fall
Author: Bali Rai
Interest level: 12-15
Reading age: 10+
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The Harder They Fall
Author: Bali Rai
Interest level: 12-15
Reading age: 10+
Bali Rai once again hits home with a current and unfortunately necessary book. As always, the characters are fully fleshed out, th…
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How to Be Invisible
Author: Tim Lott
Interest level: 11+
Reading age: 11+
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How to Be Invisible
Author: Tim Lott
Interest level: 11+
Reading age: 11+
A strange encounter with a moustachioed man in a dusty bookshop offers a cryptic answer to Strato Nyman's troubles
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Playground
Author: 50 Cent
Interest level: 13+
Reading age: 10+
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Playground
Author: 50 Cent
Interest level: 13+
Reading age: 10+
Some tales can't help being told. And this is one of them
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Don't Pick on Me!
Author: Rosemary Stones
Interest level: 9+
Reading age: 9+
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Don't Pick on Me!
Author: Rosemary Stones
Interest level: 9+
Reading age: 9+
This book explores why some people bully, why others are bullied and what you can do to change things
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The Song from Somewhere Else
Author: AF Harrold Illustrator: Levi Pinfold
Interest level: 8+
Reading age: 8+
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The Song from Somewhere Else
Author: AF Harrold Illustrator: Levi Pinfold
Interest level: 8+
Reading age: 8+
Frank is being bullied - for what, she's not sure. Being smart? Being different, perhaps. One day, after her bike is thrown in the…
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Kiss
Author: Jacqueline Wilson Illustrator: Nick Sharratt
Interest level: 11+
Reading age: 9+
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Kiss
Author: Jacqueline Wilson Illustrator: Nick Sharratt
Interest level: 11+
Reading age: 9+
Wilson skilfully combines an approachable and involving teenage story with a debate about true friendship, sexual identity and gro…
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Finding Cherokee Brown
Author: Siobhan Curham
Interest level: 12+
Reading age: 12+
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Finding Cherokee Brown
Author: Siobhan Curham
Interest level: 12+
Reading age: 12+
Claire Weeks is being bullied. She has no-one to talk to, and unsure where to turn, she comes up with the idea of writing a book a…
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The Weight of Water
Author: Sarah Crossan
Interest level: 11+
Reading age: 9+
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The Weight of Water
Author: Sarah Crossan
Interest level: 11+
Reading age: 9+
This beautiful book is written in verse and captures 13-year-old Kasienka’s emotions and experiences perfectly
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Fat Boy Swim
Author: Catherine Forde
Interest level: 10+
Reading age: 10+
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Fat Boy Swim
Author: Catherine Forde
Interest level: 10+
Reading age: 10+
This is a wonderful story, brilliantly told in the Glaswegian dialect, and despite containing distressing accounts of bullying, it…
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What's Your Problem
Author: Bali Rai
Interest level: 12+
Reading age: 9+
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What's Your Problem
Author: Bali Rai
Interest level: 12+
Reading age: 9+
Jaspal, born and brought up in Leicester, is 14 when his father moves the family to rural Nottinghamshire for a 'better life'. How…
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Hollow Pike
Author: Juno Dawson
Interest level: 14+
Reading age: 10+
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Hollow Pike
Author: Juno Dawson
Interest level: 14+
Reading age: 10+
Lis London had hoped that a move to the country would allow her to escape not only the bullies but also her recurring nightmares
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A Monster Calls
Author: Patrick Ness (From an idea by Siobhan Dowd) Illustrator: Jim Kay
Interest level: 11-14
Reading age: 10+
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A Monster Calls
Author: Patrick Ness (From an idea by Siobhan Dowd) Illustrator: Jim Kay
Interest level: 11-14
Reading age: 10+
Connor's mum has cancer and life is changing. There is the nightmare, then there is school, where people avoid him, or persecute h…
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