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Reviews tagging 'Bullying'
Bear Boy: The True Story of a Boy, Two Bears, and the Fight to Be Free by Justin Barker
3 reviews
lovelybookshelf's review
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
2.75
This reads on a middle grade level, but content-wise it is solidly YA. The aspects of this book that focused on the bears and Justin's fight to get them to humane conditions were excellent. However, there was a little too much privilege combined with an intense overzealousness (à la PETA) that detracted from my enjoyment of the book overall. There was also a small scene that treated cutting and suicidal ideation so casually, so flippantly, that it practically glamorized it. That felt grossly irresponsible considering this title is marketed toward teens. I did appreciate that the narrative shows how complex people are; no one is all good or all bad. So yeah, lots of mixed feelings about this one.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cursing, and Homophobia
Minor: Animal death and Suicide
sara_m_martins's review
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
4.0
Jane Goodall speaks truth in her foreword, when she says you can't put this down and that it is read in one sitting!
"This was about justice, standing up for the voiceless, and helping people see that animals were more than food or entertainment. They had their own unique lives and deserved the same decency and respect that we all yearn for."
Give me animals, LGBTQ representation and mix in some fight for justice and that's ~90% of my personality and 100% of my social media timeline
This book completely transported me to the author's life, growing up in the 90's, while starting and creating his path in the animal rights movement, while growing up, finding himself and his people. I really enjoyed the writing style, making it easy to read and appealing to an YA audience.
Recommend for any animal lovers, social justice people and queer kids, for a bit of representation where being queer is an important facet of life presented alongside others. Also 90's teens might get a bit of nice nostalgia.
Thank you to NetGalley+publisher for providing me with an eARC
This book completely transported me to the author's life, growing up in the 90's, while starting and creating his path in the animal rights movement, while growing up, finding himself and his people. I really enjoyed the writing style, making it easy to read and appealing to an YA audience.
Recommend for any animal lovers, social justice people and queer kids, for a bit of representation where being queer is an important facet of life presented alongside others. Also 90's teens might get a bit of nice nostalgia.
Thank you to NetGalley+publisher for providing me with an eARC
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Homophobia, Self harm, and Toxic relationship
fearsparks's review
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
** thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an early copy in exchange for my honest review **
This is a nonfiction book, a memoir, of Justin Barker’s teenage years. It’s about activism, fighting with your parents, feeling misunderstood and figuring out your identity.
When I picked up this book I was convinced that this was a book of fiction, that was mostly inspired by a true story. I don’t know how I missed that it, in fact, was nonfiction. So when I began reading this book I felt disappointed, and I thought about not reading the book at all. Most often, nonfiction books put me in a reading slump. But this book didn’t. And I am so happy I gave it a chance anyway.
This “story” is told by Justin Barker (author), from a present day view, about his teenage years during the 90s. He references to the differences in technology in what he did and did not have access to, and why he had to do stuff in that way. He also explains what older technology he references, in case the reader doesn’t know about it. And all these explanations comes in a very easy-to-read way, that feels like a part of the story.
Since my expectations on the book comes from a place of misinformation/misunderstanding, I did feel disappointed by the book. But I think, if I had known that this was a memoir or nonfiction, I would have been pleasantly surprised. This book is nothing like my expectations of a nonfiction book, with it being boring and hard to read. This book was easy to read, quick and interesting. I finished it in less than 5 hours, and in one sitting.
This is a nonfiction book, a memoir, of Justin Barker’s teenage years. It’s about activism, fighting with your parents, feeling misunderstood and figuring out your identity.
When I picked up this book I was convinced that this was a book of fiction, that was mostly inspired by a true story. I don’t know how I missed that it, in fact, was nonfiction. So when I began reading this book I felt disappointed, and I thought about not reading the book at all. Most often, nonfiction books put me in a reading slump. But this book didn’t. And I am so happy I gave it a chance anyway.
This “story” is told by Justin Barker (author), from a present day view, about his teenage years during the 90s. He references to the differences in technology in what he did and did not have access to, and why he had to do stuff in that way. He also explains what older technology he references, in case the reader doesn’t know about it. And all these explanations comes in a very easy-to-read way, that feels like a part of the story.
Since my expectations on the book comes from a place of misinformation/misunderstanding, I did feel disappointed by the book. But I think, if I had known that this was a memoir or nonfiction, I would have been pleasantly surprised. This book is nothing like my expectations of a nonfiction book, with it being boring and hard to read. This book was easy to read, quick and interesting. I finished it in less than 5 hours, and in one sitting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty
Moderate: Animal death and Bullying
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