Blanco Review

The book, Please Stop Laughing at Me by Jodee Blanco, is an inspirational story about the abuse she endured during her years at school. She had to deal with physical, verbal, and emotional abuse throughout her school year. Once I started this book I couldn't put it down. I can remember back in elementary school being the new kid. The kids made fun of me because I was new, but once they gave me a chance they liked me. In junior high some kids would call me names, but that was it. Verbal abuse is all that I had to deal with on occasion. This is nothing compared to the things that Jodee endured through her years of school.

The story begins with Jodee's description of how she was victimized in a 4th grade Catholic grammar school; coming to the defense of deaf children that were being treated cruelly. She supplied the school officials with names and was labeled a "tattletale." No one would talk to her, recess was spent in anguish, and she would find garbage and spoiled food in her book bag. As she progressed into 5th grade some of the social atmosphere began to shift in subtle but profound ways. Being accepted into a clique was all that mattered. Instead of being admired for class participation, as in earlier years she was laughed at and labeled as "teacher's pet." She said the rules were simple "shun or be shunned--if you weren't willing to go along with the crowd, you would become the reject."

Sixth grade Jodee enrolled at a private academy and the first few months were without incident. Jodee reveled in having friends and tried to do everything right to stay in their good standing. The trouble started when she called her mother to leave a party early. Jodee begged her mother not tell what was going on with the twelve year olds--but they were all caught in the act. Monday morning at school she found her favorite suede shoes floating in a toilet bowl of urine with a note attached--"Bitch, this is just the beginning." She was cruelly treated, spit at, beaten, and shunned on a daily basis. Her parents were sympathetic to her dilemma and finally forced her to see a psychiatrist. She was placed on medication that made her very sleepy. The psychiatrist said that "kids will be kids and that possibly she was looking for attention from her parents." In eighth grade, a group of popular students followed her to the parking lot after school on a winter's afternoon, knocked her to the ground, and shoved fistfuls of snow down her throat, laughing as they watched her struggle to breathe. In another incident, two cheerleaders pinned her against the bathroom wall while another burned her hand with a lit cigarette, chanting "we're going to kill you." She was also stoned for refusing to dissect a baby pig in biology class.

High school was full of rejection for Jodee. The students did not like her "goody" attitude. Jodee also endured a physical problem that caused her breast to grow at different rates. When the students found out about this, during gym class, it became another thing that they could tease and ridicule her about. Her senior year seemed to be better than many of the others. The last day of school everyone in the senior class was signing each others yearbooks. It took her an hour to muster up the courage to ask Tyler to sign her yearbook. Jodee had a crush on him for years and when he told her "I'd be honored" she thought "I'm thrilled, what a wonderful way to end my senior year." She further states,

"When he hands back my yearbook, there, in black indelible marker, scribbled