good - Katrina

Teacher's ed. Because three-year-old Jake was kind of smart and not a tattletale, and he had no big brother to protect him. He was a perfect bully magnet. Everything changed the year Jake was in second grade. That's when SuperBully Link Baxter moved to town. Jake had his hands full just trying to survive, until class project time when the teacher assigned him to be Link's partner? Jake uses all his smarts and his heart to turn himself from Jake Drake, Bully Magnet, to Jake Drake, Bully Buster.

This book takes a surprising turn with making the bully character very fallible and human. Jake's final solution, and the ending, is a tad idealistic, but Clements writes in a way that does not talk down to the reader and makes Jake an endlessly relatable character--particularly to those who have experienced bullying in the past.

This is a book about Jake Drake who is having trouble with a bully at school. Jake wants to know why the teachers at school cannot get rid of bullies of they are so smart. Jake takes problems into his own hands to get rid of the bully. This would be a good book for fourth graders. This book would be good for a lesson on bullying, and what teachers and students can do to stop bullies, and to show bullies that what they are doing is hurting other students.

Jake Drake, Bully Buster is the first book in a popular series about Jake Drake. Jake is a fourth grade student who believes he has been a bully magnet since preschool. His theory is that he attracts bullies because he is of medium size, doesn't have an older sibling, doesn't appear to be the type to tattle, and looks brainy. Most of the book is about his "super bully" from second grade. Jake describes how Link, the super bully, calls him Fake, splashes water on him so it looks like Jake peed his pants, pretends to be hit so Jake gets in trouble at school, and how Link bullies him into working on their group project all by himself. Jake tries to go along with Link's antics and even tries being nice but none of this stops Link. Finally, when Jake has had enough and tells Link that he won't finish the Native American report by himself and they will both get an F, Link finally offers to do some work. It is at this point that Jake sees a new side to Link. Link does a really good job of putting together their display for their project and when they go to share it in class, Link panics and tells Jake that he can't speak in front of the class. Despite all the mean things Link has done to Jake and a great opportunity to humiliate Link, Jake decides to be nice and tells Link that he will do all the talking and Jake can do the pointing. The project goes off with a hit and Jake is no longer afraid of Link. At the end, Jake tells the reader that while Link is no longer mean to him they are not friends either, but now Jake knows that there is always another side to bullies.

I did not like this book. For one, I was bothered by the teacher's lack of awareness and involvement. I also didn't understand why Jake is in fourth grade but the story is about when he was in second grade. I thought there was very little character development and I don't think kids would relate to the characters nor do I think they should. I think this book sends the wrong message about how to handle bullies and doesn't even discuss why Link is a bully. While the topic of bullies may transcend the contemporary setting and have universal implications I think that the resolution is unrealistic. The only part I did think was realistic was at the end when Jake mentions that while Link doesn't bully him anymore they are not friends and they don't even like each other. I would hesitate to recommend this book to students in grades 2-4. ( )