Use these links to supplement and complement students’ reading of the work and to increase their overall enjoyment of literature. Challenge them to discern parallel themes, engage through visual and aural stimuli, and delve deeper into the thematic possibilities presented by the title.

Recommended Texts for Pairing

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

• a novel about the bullying and discrimination experienced by a boy with facial differences caused by mandibulofacial dysostosis
• Compare similar themes related to the social and psychological harm caused by bullying, avoiding judgment based on first impressions, and growing up as an outsider or outcast.
• Wonder on SuperSummary

Eleanor and Park

• a novel about the relationship between two young outcasts whose lives are complicated by problems both at school and at home
• Compare the redeeming power of friendship in this novel and in The Misfits.
• Compare similar themes related to the social and psychological harm caused by bullying, growing up as an outsider or outcast, and what really constitutes a happy ending.
• Eleanor and Park on SuperSummary

“Maybe” by Harry Baker

• a 2-minute video of Harry Baker performing his well-known spoken-word poem about feeling like an outsider or outcast
• Compare Baker’s exploration of the social and psychological harm caused by bullying.

“All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury

• a brief science-fiction story in which an outcast child is treated cruelly by her classmates
• Compare this unusual treatment of the social and psychological harm caused by bullying.

Other Student Resources

“Slam Poem About Bullying” by Aija Mayrock

• 3-minute video of young poet Aija Mayrock performing her poem
• an example of how bullying impacts people and how the bullied can find their own voices (NOTE: contains a brief reference to suicide)

“What is Relational Aggression?” by Risa Kerslake

• a US News and World Report article about the harms of ostracism and verbal bullying
• offers students another perspective on what “bullying” can mean