The Pact, by Mitchell S. Karnes

Paul is a boy in middle school who constantly gets picked on my his classmates.  When a new boy named Scott comes to the school, he begins to stick up for Paul.  The boys learn that they have a common interest in a role playing game, so Paul introduces Scott to some other boys who play.  Scott is trying to adjust to a new school, as well as coping with the loss of his father, and his decision to take a stand against the school bullies makes it difficult for him to simply blend in.

Bullying is such an important topic.  We see countless people speaking out on the need to change bullying culture; we hear of the horrible impact of bullying behavior; we see more and more schools adopting a zero tolerance policy on bullying.  So it makes sense that we address it in the books our kids are reading as well.  This book is aimed at middle grades readers, and it does a good job of showing what it is like to be involved in a bullying situation, whether you are the bully, the bullied, or a spectator.

I really like that this book painted a pretty accurate picture of what kids in the middle grades age group can possibly deal with.  The book was able to stay appropriate for the intended age group, while avoiding too much sugar coating of the issue.  I think the format of this book could be used to help kids in this age range deal with other issues as well.  I am interested to see where the author goes from here, but based on this book alone I think he had written something that the kids will really relate to.

I received a review copy courtesy of TLC Book Tours in exchange for my honest review.  See the rest of the tour here. 
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