Gracie's Guide: How to Deal with Bullying by Headline Books / Zoom Into Books

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Angie Wilson Illustrated by Ashley Teets

Headline Kids an imprint of Headline Books Terra Alta, WV

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any other form or for any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage system, without written permission from Headline Books. To order additional copies of this book, for book publishing information, or to contact the author: Headline Books, Inc. P.O. Box 52, Terra Alta, WV 26764 www.HeadlineBooks.com Tel: 800-570-5951 Email: mybook@headlinebooks.com Headline Kids is an imprint of Headline Books angiewilson.wix.com/author-page

ISBN-13: 9781882658701

P R I N T E D I N T H E U N I T E D S TAT E S O F A M E R I C A

For Derek

“Crash, Bam, Boom!” heard the kids in the fifth grade classroom. “Double Crash, Double Bam, Double Boom!” is what Gracie heard. It was the sound her Social Studies book made when it slipped out of her hand, hit on her desk, fell on top of her pencil box which popped open and slid onto the floor. It was double loud in Gracie’s mind because she was the one who caused the mega-noise. Of course, it happened during their silent reading time… the time when everyone else in the room was extra quiet as they read a favorite book. Gracie hadn’t wanted to read just any book, she wanted to read about the ancient mysteries of the world in the pages of her enormous Social Studies book.

Her teacher, Ms. T, asked her if everything was alright, Gracie assured her it was. She picked up her things and slid down in her seat. She tried to stay quiet, but before she could say “pickled pig’s feet” three times quickly, it was time for lunch.

“People should see kindness in your face, your eyes, in your smile.” —Mother Teresa

Gracie and Kenzie, her BFF, grabbed their trays with a yummy pepperoni cheese roll and sat down together. They ate and talked and talked and ate—and tried to keep their mouths closed when full of food. They talked about the next big mystery to solve. Super spies are like that—they are always looking for the next case. When lunch was over they headed back to class for the big math test.

Everyone worked hard for the next hour. It was a tough test. At the end of the day when everyone was packing up to go home, Gracie sighed a little sigh of relief. This ‘sigh’ had nothing to do with the math test, even though she knew she didn’t do well on it, but it had everything to do with Cooper Hudson. She thought she’d made it through the day without him saying mean things to her. Well, that’s what she thought—and it was true—until he walked by and dropped his pencil beside her desk. He bent down to pick it up and quickly looked Gracie right in the eye and said, “You’re so ugly.” Gracie froze. She didn’t know how to react to him. Usually, she had a mouth full of words to share with anyone willing to listen, but it was different when it came to Cooper. Her heart started beating fast and she turned her eyes away from him. It wasn’t a good feeling.

Across 1. What phrase couldn’t be said three times quickly before it was lunchtime? 3. What ‘rule was the mystery Ms. T wanted the class to solve? 5. Who said mean things to Gracie? 6. What test did Gracie fail? 11. How did Gracie feel at the end of the day when she couldn’t think of another way to stay home from school? 12. What did Ms. Evans tell Cooper that mean words left on people? 13. What did Gracie use to make her forehead warm to fool her mom? Down 2. Who is Gracie’s BFF? 4. What was one name people called Gracie because she was so skinny? 6. What did Ms. T tell the students she needed them to solve? 7. What book did Gracie read during the silent reading time? 8. What noise did Gracies book make at the beginning of the story? 9. What is the counselors name at school? 10. What was one thing Aunt Bea made for breakfast? 12

Gracie looked in the mirror when she got home. She didn’t really feel ugly, but then she didn’t feel pretty either. Her hair was always a little messy and she had a few freckles, but that’s not a big deal. She was probably the skinniest kid in the whole school which wasn’t a good thing. People had often called her names because she was so skinny—names like ‘toothpick’ and ‘stick.’ She usually didn’t let it bother her, but when someone called her ‘ugly,’ it hurt. Cooper called her that almost every day for the last month. He was about to convince her it was true.

Gracie knew something had to be done. She looked in her backpack full of spy supplies and realized there was nothing in there to help her. When it came to mysteries, she was always full of ideas to help solve the case, but this problem was bigger than any mystery she had ever solved. She decided the only way to put a stop to it was to stay home from school. If she stayed home, then she wouldn’t have to hear those words every day. This was her plan, and she would stick to it. Gracie and her mom lived alone in an apartment building on the edge of town. The building was full of older people and one of them was her babysitter, Aunt Bea. She wasn’t really her aunt, but she felt like family. Gracie stayed with her the next day because she was too ‘sick’ to go to school. Gracie said her stomach hurt, but when Aunt Bea fixed French toast and bacon—she had to eat. She also ate a grilled cheese lunch and had two cookies for a snack. Mom was a little suspicious that afternoon when she picked her up after work, even though Gracie wrapped a blanket around herself and did her best ‘turtle walk’ back home. Mom said if she wasn’t sick, they could’ve gone to the park. It was an agonizing evening as she stayed wrapped up in her blanket thinking about the park. The next morning wasn’t so easy. Mom didn’t believe her, but she had a little plan. She took the electric blanket and turned it on high. She put the hot blanket on her forehead and let it stay there until she heard Mom coming down the hall. She quickly put it down and started to cough. She told Mom she thought she had a fever. Gracie was relieved when she had tricked her mom and got to stay home another day.

All that day, however, Gracie was worried. She knew she couldn’t fool Mom forever and she felt bad for lying. She had to make another plan. Mom worked the evening shift, so she was home all day. Gracie hopped out of bed and paced the floor whenever she knew Mom was working in the kitchen and wasn’t going to pop into her room to check on her. What could she do? How could she stop this? But, no matter how many times she walked back and forth, she was still as clueless at the end of the day as she had been that morning. Gracie had to go to school the next day. She sat on the bus and rubbed her stomach because this time she really did feel sick. Cooper was on a roll that day. He whispered, muttered, and murmured to her all throughout the day. It was like he was making up for the two days she was absent. The only thing that made her feel worse was the big, fat ‘F’ written on the top of her math test. She had never failed a test before. She could only imagine how mad Mom was going to be.

When Mom looked at her folder that afternoon, she was in shock. She peppered Gracie with questions about the test and missing school. The afternoon ended with a call to Ms. T. Gracie sank into the couch, covered her head and began to cry. She didn’t want to tell anyone she was so worried about Cooper she didn’t study for the test. It was just too much. Ms. T had no answers for Mom because no one knew about Cooper. Gracie hadn’t even told Kenzie. The next day was Saturday and Gracie smiled at the thought of hiding out at Aunt Bea’s. It was somewhere between lunch and an afternoon snack of peanut butter fudge that she let it slip about Cooper. As Aunt Bea was stirring the fudge, Gracie was sitting at the desk in the corner. She looked beside her and noticed her reflection in the glass door of a little cabinet. She thought to herself that Cooper was right. She had heard his words so many times and now she believed them. She sighed and said, “I am ugly, just like Cooper said.” Aunt Bea turned quickly and said, “What did you say?” Gracie gasped when she realized she had said the words out loud.

“Uh, nothing,” she stammered. Aunt Bea didn’t give up. “Who is Cooper?” “Cooper who?” Gracie asked. “That’s what I want to know.”

Gracie began to squirm around a bit. She explained he was a boy in her class and tried to brush it off as nothing, but Aunt Bea was persistent, very persistent. Gracie really didn’t want to go into it, but she was tired of holding all of the turmoil inside. By the end of the day, three things had happened—they had eaten the fudge by the spoonful because they couldn’t wait for it to harden, they sat and sipped ice tea on the balcony while a light rain showered the world around them, and Gracie had told Aunt Bea all about Cooper Hudson. 20

Gracie was happy that afternoon. She felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She didn’t really understand why she felt different because she knew she would have to see him again on Monday, but for some reason, it didn’t bother her as badly. Aunt Bea had assured her Cooper was wrong. She said he was just bullying her and she had to tell her teacher about it. She said the old saying, ‘sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me’ is not true. Gracie agreed because the words hurt—probably worse than a black eye—and she decided to talk to her teacher about the situation.

Gracie was a little afraid to tell Ms. T, so she wrote it down and slipped the note to her early Monday morning. The school counselor, Ms. Evans, talked with Gracie about the situation. She told her she was glad she did the first step in doing the right thing by telling a caring adult about it. She said that it wasn’t Gracie’s fault and she was so proud of her for letting Ms. T know. Gracie realized she didn’t have to hide this any longer and there were people who cared about her and wanted to help. What a relief!

 Start Here A Mystery Maze...can you find the end without crossing a line?

Ms. Evans talked with Cooper as well. She told him his words were very hurtful to Gracie and they worked on a plan to change his behavior. Cooper admitted he had been bullied when he was younger and it made him feel bad. This is what led to him saying mean things to Gracie. He decided he would never let anyone make him feel that way again—he was going to get the upper hand. He was going to control the situation before it controlled him.

Ms. Evans shared with Cooper how that hurting others was never the right answer. She gave him a piece of paper that had a picture of a stick person on it. She told him to crumble the paper into a ball. Cooper thought that was kinda cool. He began tossing that paper ball into the air and was ready to take aim and throw it into the trashcan when she asked him to unfold it and get all of the wrinkles out. He tried for ten minutes to get them out, but realized it was impossible. Ms. Evans told him that was what happened to people when others are mean to them or call them names. Although you can appologize, they are not the same, the scars are still there. When Cooper realized that the words he said to Gracie had left scars on her, he felt awful.

Be kind to one another and forgiving.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Ms. Evans told the class she had a mystery for them to solve. Gracie sat up straight in her seat and smiled. Did she not realize that there was a Super-Spy in the room? Ms. Evans gave everyone two things to take home with them that day and asked them to try and figure out how they go together. Everyone left with a yellow ruler and a golden key. When Gracie got home, she used a magnifying glass to carefully examine the objects. She did not find any clues upon the close inspection. She thought and thought until she couldn’t think about it anymore. Frustrated, she went to bed with the mystery unsolved.

It wasn’t until she was eating breakfast the next morning that she remembered a lesson she had learned a long time ago about the Golden Rule. Gracie slammed her hand on the table and yelled, “Aha!” She scared Mom so badly that she spewed a mouthful of coffee across the kitchen. “Graceanne Faith!” Mom scolded, “What in the world is wrong?” “I’m sorry, but I just solved the mystery at school!”

Treat other people the way you want to be treated.

Gracie happily skipped all the way to the bus stop. She was the first to raise her hand in class and recite the Golden Rule for the entire class. Ms. Evans was thrilled that Gracie had figured it out. She said that the rule is the KEY to getting along with others. She wrote the rule on the board in big letters: “Treat other people the way you want to be treated.” There was no mystery in the rule, simply the truth.

E K Y L C J R S G F L K B T B

C M C R J J U S G G Y C E U O

R E P O O C U A O L J A H R O

AUNT BEA BACKPACK BAM BEHAVIOR BFF BOOM COOPER

R E L U R W O L L E Y P A T M

F I N G S K D G B G K K V L G

B Z R N Y E I G L F U C I E S

U N E Z N E Q N K O F A O W R

T E I R I W U I D D O B R A J

X K U C C P W Y A W X H R L O

E L A R S A T F R U O H C K L

E R A K O M O I H S N R J S U

CRASH GOLDEN KEY GOLDEN RULE GRACIE KENZIE KIND WORDS MAGNIFYING GLASS

G S G O L D E N K E Y T D H O

H Z P J D N B G T P S S B S Q

W D J R D A B A M M M P W E P

T S E T H T A M Y S T E R Y A

MATH TEST MS T MYSTERY SCHOOL TURTLE WALK YELLOW RULER

Changing behavior can change a life! What is bullying? Bullying is when someone hurts another person with their words or actions. Are you being bullied? Maybe you have experienced something like Gracie did in the story and you don’t know what to do. At first, she did the wrong thing when she lied to her mom so she could stay home from school. She should not have lied or kept the problem to herself. She should have told a caring or trusted adult. You may feel that no one will understand, but there are a lot of people who have gone through a similar situation. Your teachers and counselors have been trained to help students who are facing this type of problem. When Gracie finally told an adult, she knew that she needed to do the right thing and tell her teacher. Are you bullying someone? You might think it’s funny to do or say mean things to other people. You may be like Cooper who had been bullied in the past and wanted to get the upper hand to make sure it didn’t happen again. In either case, it is never funny or the right thing to do. No one deserves to be bullied. If you are saying mean things to others or hurting someone in any way, it is wrong. Do you know someone who is being bullied? Maybe you know someone who is being bullied. You may think there’s nothing you can do about it, but there are a lot of things you can do to help. You can reach out and be a friend to the person who is being picked on. You can help the person get away from the situation and let them know they are not alone. You can talk to a trusted adult. It is not tattling if you tell a teacher about a bullying situation. DO T REAT

THE RIGHT THING !

R EMEMBER

THE

GOLDEN R ULE. :

OTHER PEOPLE THE WAY YOU WANT TO BE TREATED .

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