Creeps

by Darren Hynes

[elvinagb]

Wayne Pumphrey is small, skinny, 15 years old and with no friends trying to survive the next three years of high school. But Pete the Meat and his gang have other ideas. When does being bullied cross the line and become torture.
Wayne learns to cope with the daily punishment and tries to avoid Pete as best he can. Until he finally finds a friend. Marjorie and Wayne become friends and join the cast of the school play and it seems that together they can almost avoid the daily torment of their bullies.
But outside of school and at home Wayne, Marjorie and even Pete have their own personal battles. Wayne's father drinks too much, his mom is always threatening to leave but never does. Marjorie is mourning the loss of her father and her mother can't even begin to cope and whatever has happened in the past to Pete is driving him to take his anger out on anyone who is smaller and weaker.
Hynes is able to get into the way a victim feels, the helplessness and the wanting to just do whatever it takes to make it from one day to the next until you can escape. I only wish that this book touched on what really drove Pete to do what he did, not to justify it or explain it away but a look at what makes some bullies act the way they do.
This is a great book and could be a great way to open up discussions on what bullying means to students and how to react and what onlookers, bystanders and adults can do.