Thursday, August 3, 2017

Brute Bully Boy #OurAuthorGang

Children are attacked by brute bullies every day and defend themselves different ways.
Children's book for ages 4-12
by
Erika M Szabo

When Bianca, Daniel, and Peanut, the St. Bernard, are confronted by Mark and his cronies, the BFFs stand up to him with the help of Peanut. 

“I’m glad school is over,” Bianca said to Daniel as they walked on the sidewalk toward the river with towels on their shoulders. Peanut, as usual, walked with them staying close to Bianca.

“Me too,” Daniel said to his best friend with a sigh. “We don’t have to study or do homework for the entire summer, and I don’t have to deal with Mark. He said he will spend the summer vacation at his grandma’s house. Luckily it is far away in another town.”

“It makes me so angry that he’s getting away with hurting other kids, and he’s been picking on you for the past few weeks.”

“My ears were ringing for days because I hit my head on the desk,” Daniel said. “And the teacher didn’t believe me when I told him that Mark pushed me, so I didn’t tell my parents. It’s best to stay out of Mark’s way. He is very strong.”

“I don’t understand why those boys hang out with that big bully,” Bianca growled under her breath, feeling frustrated. “He gets them in trouble all the time.”

“Mark told Peter that because he is strong and wild as a wolf and nobody can mess with him and his boys, he named his group the Wolf Pack. But I think he got the name from a movie. I guess the boys feel safe with Mark because he’s strong,” Daniel sighed.


“Oh, look! The BFFs are going for a swim with their stupid mutt!” Mark yelled.

Bianca looked back and saw Mark standing by the fence, surrounded by three smaller boys.

“The loooovebirds,” chuckled Scott, one of Mark’s skinny friends, wearing a purple shirt. He looked at the husky boy with admiration.

“They think they’re better than us just because Danny boy won the spelling bee and her girlfriend came up with that stupid science project,” Mark growled.

“Yeah,” Aiden, the boy in a green shirt, agreed. “They’re not better than us.”

“Stupid geeks,” Scott said as he looked at Mark for approval.

Mark sneered and raised his arm. Two of his cronies happily gave him a high five one by one, except one. Peter pushed his glasses up on his nose nervously and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.


“Hey!” Hearing Mark’s angry shout, Bianca and Daniel turned back and looked at the group of boys.

“Hey,” Mark yelled again. “What are you two whispering about?”

“It’s none of your business!” Bianca said angrily.

“Yeah?” Mark yelled. “I’m going to tell my dad that you’re walking your mutt without a leash. He’s a policeman, you know.”

Bianca’s blood boiled with anger, and she lashed out at Mark. “Yes, we know that, Mark. You told us many times, but your dad knows that Peanut wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

“He’s just a big, dumb dog that should be locked up. Who gave him that stupid name, anyway?” Mark cackled.

“Leave us alone, Mark,” Daniel shouted angrily.

“Or what?” Mark pointed his round chin forward but cowered back when he heard Peanut’s bark that sounded like thunder. The huge dog took a step toward him.

“Peanut! No!” Bianca yelled.

The giant dog stopped and looked back at Bianca with a twinkle in his eyes, and then he looked at Mark again. A low, threatening rumble escaped the dog’s throat as he opened his mouth showing his sharp teeth.

Mark’s usual arrogant expression changed. He looked frightened and flattened his body against the fence. The three boys slowly inched their way farther away from Mark who held onto the fence and didn’t move.


Children's book for ages 4-12 available in eBook and print
EBOOK

PRINT

Erika M Szabo

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Thank you Rick :)
 
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Erika M Szabo via Google+

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Children are attacked by brute bullies every day and defend themselves different ways
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Erika M Szabo via Google+

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Brute Bully Boy #OurAuthorGang
Children are attacked by brute bullies every day and defend themselves different ways. Children's book for ages 4-12 by Erika M Szabo www.authorerikamszabo.com When Bianca, Daniel, and Peanut, the St. Bernard, are confronted by Mark and his cronies, the BFF...
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Mary Anne Yarde

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
A sad topic that is a reality for many children.
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Indeed Mary Anne. It is much worse today because of cyber bullying. Many young teenagers are bullied into committing suicide due to relentless and cruel comments on their social site pages and blogs

T.C. Rypel

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Nice meaty excerpt from this vital book about an ongoing, widespread problem. An admirable work, Erika. I hope its distribution is vast, as it deserves to be.
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Thank you Ted! Book marketing is also a growing problem but I'm doing my best to get this book into the hands of children :)

Joe Bonadonna

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Great excerpt, Erika. An important issue that needs to be addressed in every way possible. It needs more attention, more discussion and more education. This problem is so different than it was when I was a kid: it's much more prevalent and much more dangerous, too. Kids need to know how to stand up to bullies the correct way.
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Yes, bullying is a lot more dangerous today Joe. Before the internet and super-smart phones and gadgets, we saw them coming and we knew who the bullies were. Now it's totally different when kids have multiple social site profiles, websites and so on. I've seen a very sad post recently about a 14 years old girl who tried to kill herself because of bullying. Another girl took a picture of her in the mall's bathroom sitting on the toilet and texted it to all her contacts and posted it on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. This poor kid got hundreds of messages calling her names and very nasty comments were made on the posts. She was defenseless and felt so devastated that she cut her wrists in the bathtub. Luckily her parents arrived home in time to save her and I hope she's getting help and tries to deal with this awful experience. But the emotional scar is there and it will stay with her for the rest of her life. It is very sad. Children nowadays need a lot more education about bullying and it has to start at a very early age.
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Jeez! I am glad I'm not a kid today, and glad I don't have kids or grand kids. Bad enough worrying about all my little cousins, not to mention my nephews and my friends' kids. 

Ruth de Jauregui

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
This is an excellent take on the bullying problem. And great the the BFF didn't put up with calling names, no matter how funny it was.

Sadly, some kids who are bullied will turn into bullies when they get a growth spurt or just turn about the abuse that they've been getting. We, as adults, have to do better to stop this problem.
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Indeed Ruth! I'm so glad that young readers picked up on that too.

Grace Au via Google+

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
A great children's book +Erika M Szabo
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Thank you Grace!

Toi Thomas

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Nice stories about a sad subject. Well done.
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Thank you Toi! Sad and very real. So many children are bullied and it is getting worse. Now children are nit only bullied on playgrounds and in schools but on the internet too. We need to teach our kids not to be afraid and speak up against bullies.

Rick Haynes

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
All bullies are cowards. Nice way of showing the problem Erika.
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Eri Sunny

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Nice post, Dear! I`m following you with a great pleasure. Please follow me back - http:///sunnyeri.blogspot.com
 
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Mackenzie Flohr

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Such a great way to tackle the topic of bullying. I also really love the artwork!
 
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Mackenzie Flohr shared this via Google+

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Joe Bonadonna via Google+

1 year ago (edited)  -  Shared publicly
 
Today on A Small Gang of Authors, Erika M Szabo gives us an important excerpt from one of her children's novels, wherein her characters deal with the growing problem of bullying.
https://asmallgangofauthors.blogspot.com/2017/08/brute-bully-boy-ourauthorgang.html
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Wednesday, August 2, 2017

The Greatest Fantasy Tale Ever Written #OurAuthorGang


The Children’s Book That Grew Into The Greatest Fantasy Tale Ever Written
Post by Rick Haynes


Why would a genius create such a large book of over 95,000 words for youngsters? Did J.R.R.Tolkien really write The Hobbit just for his children, or was he experimenting, stretching his imagination in his literary world? By all accounts it was probably a bit of both, but I doubt that Tolkien realised what he had created with the Hobbit, that it would become the precursor for a truly epic fantasy tale that is now the stuff of legends. Or, did he plan it that way?

I was given a copy of The Lord Of The Rings for my birthday, and I wanted to dive right in, but everyone told me to wait, and read The Hobbit first. Being pig headed at the time, I took no notice, which, as it turned out, wasn’t the smartest decision I’ve ever made. Lifting the book for long periods made my arms ache, which wasn’t surprising with about 1200 pages to hold, and over 455,000 words to read? And yes, I did have a hard backed copy. Yet that wasn’t a big problem as the words jumped out from every page and I began to enjoy myself. Though, If I’d read The Hobbit first, I’d have known more about the precious ring and the dwarves, and I wouldn’t have scratched my head so often wondering what happened previously. I found the long descriptive passages a bit tedious for my tastes, but I ploughed on, and my mind wandered into the tale. Yet, like a fish on a very long line I was slowly being reeled in from the depths and into the light. I began to understand the style, the richness of the words, and the array of wonderful characters that seemed to jump out from every page. I could no longer resist, for I was well and truly hooked reading the leather bound masterpiece.
A genius needs flair, a vivid imagination, talent and knowledge. Tolkien had all four, but he also carried out much research which enabled him to choose some unforgettable characters.

Here are a few of the many Norse and Old English names in the book.
Gandalf – Old Norse – meaning an Elf with a staff.
Frodo – A Norse King called Frodi.
Mordor – Old English – usually meaning murder.
Sauron – Old Norse – meaning abominable.
Sauraman – Old English – meaning a cunning man.

And it’s these names and others that captivated me, urging me to turn the pages. There was many a time when a planned quick read in bed, turned out to be a marathon session into the wee hours of the morning. The depth of the story could only come from a man with an imagination far beyond most other writers of his time, and probably even now.

I met others, as bleary eyed as me, all full of praise for the great man. Some said that the book was too long, others that it was too short, but all were of one accord. The book was the best they had ever read, and I didn’t disagree.

To me, J.R.R.Tolkien is the master of epic fantasy and The Lord Of The Rings his masterpiece. As he looks down from his writing study in the sky, I’m sure he is delighted that so many people love his work, but I am also certain that he never believed his magnificent book would become so successful.
But as often happens, not every cloud has that silver lining, especially when the film makers arrive. And just like me, they looked at the big book first.

The Lord Of The Rings was a massive hit at the box office, and that’s mainly down to the efforts of the director, Peter Jackson. He wanted those around him to be fans of the book, and to help him make a film that was as close as possible to the original story. It was, and still is, a great film. The casting was brilliant; the storyline mirrored the book, and the special effects were superb. I think Peter Jackson did a pretty good job.

The Hobbit was a different matter. Making three films from a short book, only made sense to those wishing to make money, and they did, for greed overcame common sense. The first film was a bore, the second improved, the third better still. I tried to love the films, I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, but the harder I tried, the more my disappointment grew. The trilogy was simply way too long.

If you want to really enjoy the work of the master, ignore the films, and open the books instead. Let your imaginative juices flow through your heart and soul as you read the words. Naturally I don’t want you to make my mistake, so do read The Hobbit first. Think of it as your hors d'oeuvre. Then you’ll be ready to devour the main course, although a few sessions at the gym to build up your arm muscles may help with your long reading sessions. And once you’ve finished The Lord Of The Rings, leave it for a few months, and read it again. I guarantee that you’ll spot so much that you missed first time around.

Tolkien has left a magnificent legacy for all of us to enjoy.
So what are you waiting for?
Go! Read! Enjoy!
I thank you J.R.R.Tolkien, for being my unlikely mentor.
http://www.rickhaynesauthor.com/

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