How to Beat the Bully Without Really Trying

Rodney Rathbone #1

by Scott Starkey

When luck gives a new kid a false reputation as a tough guy, can he find the strength to live up to his image?

Rodney Rathbone is a self-admitted coward. Things scare him, and he can’t help it. So naturally he’s terrified when he moves to a new town and the bully is ready to pounce. But just as Rodney is about to flee, a baseball flies in from out of nowhere and knocks out the bully. Now everyone thinks Rodney’s invincible—when really he feels just the opposite. Can he figure out how to live up to his new reputation and make friends along the way?
Told with warmth and heart, this debut novel from a middle-school teacher will speak to the hidden insecurities—and strengths—of every middle-grade reader.

Genres: Realistic Fiction, Middle Grade, Juvenile, Young Adult, Fiction, School

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 3, 2012

About the author

A fifth grade teacher for over 17 years in Hicksville, New York, Scott Starkey's had plenty of firsthand experience exploring the reading habits of students. The elements they enjoy best in a book — humor, suspense, and a dash of irreverence — are woven into his Rodney Rathbone novels, How to Beat the Bully Without Really Trying and its sequel, The Call of the Bully.

Best-selling author Jim Trelease notes, “Scott Starkey really understands kids, school, and the language of both,” and calls How to Beat the Bully, “terrific, very well written, and right on target.”

A graduate of Hiram College in Ohio, Scott was raised around writing. His father has authored several scholarly works and his mother, Joanne Starkey, is a longtime food critic for The New York Times. Scott’s experiences accompanying her on restaurant reviews plays a surprise role in his third Rodney Rathbone novel, due out in January 2014.

Scott received an M.A. in Elementary Education from Adelphi University and a Professional Diploma from C.W. Post University at Old Westbury, New York. In addition to his writing career, he participates in anti-bullying events and continues to lecture on the subject. His other passion is encouraging young people to read. Knowing that half the battle for parents and teachers is finding books that can hook a kid’s interest, Scott makes sure that humor and adventure are never far from the action in his middle grade novels.

Scott Starkey resides in Long Island, New York, with his wife, Judy, and their three children.

Reviews

[Myra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love when I can get lost in a book specifically made for a child. If a grown adult can relive my childhood thru the pages of a book, it is a very good book and will be gifted to any child in that age group for a special event such as a birthday, first day of school...

The book portrayed the main character as a low key coward that just happened to have luck on his side. Even though he had been bullied mercilessly at his former school in NYC, and he knew his "loser's" streak would continue at his new school, but to his surprise, everything turned in his favor.

This book reminded me of Pollyanna for young guys. It was very positive even though the main character had many doubts. All turned out with him shining.

[Christian M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a kid named Rodney who is a self-admitted coward. Things scare him and he can't help it. So naturally he's scared when he moves to a new town and the bully is ready to pounce on him, but just before Rodney flees a baseball flies in from out of nowhere and knocks out the bully. Now everyone in school thinks he's invincible. When really deep down inside Rodney knows he isn't. Can he figure out how to live up to his reputation and make new friends read the book to find out. I rate it 5 out of 5 stars because it is funny and very unpredictable. I recommend it to people who like unpredictable, funny, and a little bit of action books.

[Nikeria Nike]

This is a good book.
This book is about a boy name Rodney who had moved from New York to Ohio.On his first day of school this boy name josh had disrespected him and threaten him because he had lied to him.On the bus Rishi told Rodeny that josh hated new kids and like to beat him up, so Rodney had lied to Josh because he didn't want to get beat up.when josh went to go beat up Rodney at recess, a baseball player hit a home-run and it had hit Josh in the nose and everyone thought Rodney beat him up.Rodney Changed throughout the book , Rodney was a coward and towards the end he gain more confident in himself.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

All teachers are portrayed as abusive or completely clueless. Sad- I hope kids don't have this perception.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for all the underdogs who are afraid of their own shadows. The main character in this book does a lot of growing up through the situations his big mouth gets him into.

[Nicolas S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a very good reading experience, but first of all I will explain what it is about. Rodney Rathbone is new in a town of Ohio. He arrived from New York were he his friends and got bullied a lot and is scared it happens again in his new town. On the first day he meats a boy in his bus called Rishi. However Rishi told him about the wo bad boys at school and that he will most likely also be bullied. For this reason he tries to go the boys out the way and even lies to them when they asked if he was new. Unfortunately this Josh and Toby found out he was lying and wanted to hit him on the first day already. However fighter jets flew over the school in the same moment, so everyone looked up including Josh. Additionally a baseball flew right in his nose. Then all the students including Josh himself thought Rodney had slapped Josh. Furthermore the entire year other situations happened and Rodney turns to a school star, when in fact he really is the biggest coward of Garageville.
I really recommend this book, because of several reasons. First of all, there are a lot of funny luck aspects thought out the story, but also an intense atmosphere.
For example in the winter when Rodney had to go sledding, or else everyone would find out what coward he actually is. A girl he likes really well was on his sled, but because he did not know how to drive his father's champion sled he rolled down a really dangerous path jumped of a clip but luckily landed on an ice cave someone had build earlier that day. Furthermore some random person had filmed the action and so Rodney was a youtube star for the entire month of February. This example shows that luck was with Rodney and made him even more popular. Another example is that Rodney was sent to the office for having hit Longnose( the name the students gave her) during recease. Additionally he actually lied to protect the girl he liked. When he arrived in the office the Principal was discussing with miss Longnose. She was made as can be and warned that if Rodney does not get suspended she would leave the school. In fact she was so out of control, she acsitendely pushed the principals baseball in his coffee. The baseball was signed by a famous New York player on his birthday. He was so mean he even accepted misses Longnose proposal of leaving the school. In the end she was fired, Rodney got away without any problems and the entire school was asking their selves how Rodney did that. The book really gets intense from the last 70 pages, because Josh and Toby know that Rodney is a coward and try to trap him in front of others so everyone finds out that he is not a super hero after all. In gets so extreme they even work with miss Lutzkraut Rodney’s teacher. From the first Day of school she hates him so much. Imagine this, the bad boys and he teacher basically work together to destroy Rodney. One example is the school bale in the last week of school before summer vacation. Miss Lutzkraut makes such there are no witnesses and Josh punches Rodney. But again this fight was one sided, because superman accidentally slips, his shoes fly up and slam Josh’s face. For Rishi, and Rodney’s date who were there, it looked like tekwando or karate. Ones again Rodney had been lucky and proved ones more he was the was the boss.
How to beat the bully is an amazing book, written with a lot of humor. Of course these examples are few of many others and if you want to know how the story continues I really recommend you to read it.

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Start with Pros: I wanted to discover how Rodney “beat” the bully
Cons:
What grade are they in?
Why did they mice from Queens to Ohio?
Why did dufus parents let a bully physically assault their child in Queens?
Names if characters—Rocco? Fred and Ethel Windbagger?? Slim? Greasy Hair? Brain? Chicken Legs? Mrs. Lutzkraut? McThugg? Ratfields? Mr. Feebletop? Long Nose?
This whole book was RIDICULOUS!
The MC was a strange kid with impulse control (strange rude blurting under pressure thats never really addressed) issues and a dad with an eating disorder!!!
Mrs. Lutzkraut was the real bully and terrifying that she and cafe lady went unchecked and unnoticed
What middle school still has recess??
Whole sideline of NY bully Roco moving to OH was unneeded and a weird blip of a storyline
Also weird was whole section of Halloween and spooky and tie in to his NY Aunt and mean guy in NY
Adults are not that clueless ti not see when ADULTS are bullying kids!!!
Everyone in town just accepted there were adult thugs (McThuggs—ugh...) that were ABOVE THE LAW!!??
Weird that mom lied to school about Rodneys absence to go to NY on short trip. Since when can’t kids take a vacation and why would parents have to lie about it??!!
Dad eating son’s food?
Dad showing son how to fight...and knocks head off of little sisters American Girl doll??!! Irresponsible and reckless behavior
Goofy exaggerated accent given to the short scene with NY bully Rocco-also unnecessary
Sending son to camp ALL SUMMER when they frequently have discussions over money??
Ends in weird scary note-reminded me of Day of the Dead movie where the end is them arriving on an island where they think they’ve won/escaped zombies only to find out the zombies ate On the island and they’re screwed
If we had this book in our school library I would remove it due to stupidity and irresponsible behaviors with no positive lesson to be learned.
Can’t believe it was written by parent and teacher!

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an interesting fiction. The main character it describes as a self-admitted coward, Rodney Rathbone, was very funny sometimes. I liked how the author describes Rodney's lucky encounters with the biggest, toughest, most feared bullies at school so genuinely. I wished I could have been so consistently lucky as Rodney at school too. This book is a very interesting and unique book.

[Claire Meister · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this would be an engaging book for upper elementary—funny, full of crazy scenes, and irony. However, reading it as an adult I found it kind of predictable and too coincidental! Nonetheless, it’s perfect for its intended audience. I gave it three stars as I know I wasn’t it’s intended audience.

[Veer Basal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rodney is a new kid in a new state in middle school. In this book, Rodney goes to school makes friend named Rishi. He is carrying on with his day with a very strange teacher. When he goes to the bus there is a bully named Josh. Now Josh hates new kids, the book goes on with there quarrels. In my opinion this book in the hall of fame. It is VERY funny and pretty realistic.

[Felicity · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very logical. Very very logical

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty fun, clean upper elementary level book.

[SoccerReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious, I love the shenanigans this boy gets into!

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting take

[Zoii Vogt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked that the author is a teacher and really wrote about a good experience. He really described bullying in a fun way and the situations were very goofy.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moving to a new town and school sometimes offers a chance to start over and leave the past firmly behind. But sometimes it just promises more of the same. When Rodney Rathbone moves from New York to Ohio, he quickly earns the hatred of Josh, his new school's feared and hated bully. Josh is Ohio's version of New York's Rocco Ronboni, the boy who had made life miserable for Rodney and his friends, and Rodney figures that everything will be the same in Ohio. But then a series of accidents lead his classmates to regard Rodney as tougher than Josh or anyone else around. Middle graders will laugh as they read this title and wonder if Rodney will surmount his fears and dodge the bullet each time or will his true cowardly nature emerge. As he battles bullies, endears himself to the New York Mets-loving principal, and fends off plots from Mrs. Lutzkraut, the teacher who has come to hate him, Rodney just might more courage than he thought he had. The author does a great job of capturing the concerns of middle grades, including budding romances and establishing and keeping a reputation for toughness. Although some of the scenes are a bit over the top for my taste, I still enjoyed Rodney's plot and his particular skill at handling bullies without really doing much.

[Jnase1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. I would have given it 4 stars if it wasn't so long. It really drug out waaaaaay too much. But the overall storyline was a good one. The hero, Rodney, who is aself-admitted coward, gets to win over the bully without ever really fighting him. Well, actually there are several bullies in the story, but he never fights a single one. He is like the luckiest kid in the universe the way everything ends up working out for him. I do wish he had told the truth to his friends about how everything actually happened, at least by the end of the story. And I wasn't too fond of the extremely mean teacher character. Teachers get enough of a bad wrap without being made the villian in a book. And the book is written by a teacher! That really surprised me. I can only assume he made Mrs. Lutzkraut so over the top evil that it was poking fun of how kids see teachers. But kids will like that Rodney triumphs not only over his bullies, but also over his mean old teacher...or does he?

[T.P. Jagger · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really WANTED to like this book--I loved the premise of a kid being an accidental bully-beater. However, I ended up being very disappointed. I was constantly left hoping for characters with more depth. Unfortunately, character portrayals throughout the book were very stereotypical and one-dimensional, lacking the complexity that would have truly drawn me into the story and engaged my emotions.

For example, the bullies were simply portrayed as really mean kids with no evidence of redeeming qualities. The protagonist's teacher and a recess aide were equally cruel and vindictive, going to ridiculous lengths to get revenge on the protagonist throughout the story, even though their motivation to do so seemed rather weak. While I'm guessing that kids may enjoy the book more than I did, I was pretty disappointed.

[Luis Luna]

I loved the book, "How To Beat The Bully Without Really Trying" by Scott Starkey. This was the best book that I've read in my life! This book was so entertaining! It taught this bully a lesson from a kid that didn't mean to hurt him. But at the end he beat the bully!

The book, "How to beat the bully" is about a kid named Rodney that moves to Ohio. Then he meets this kid named Josh who is the school bully. But one day they went out to the fields to play baseball, Rodney was standing right next to Josh. And suddenly a baseball came out of nowhere and hit Josh right in the head and knocked him out.

I totally recommend, "How to beat the bully" to people that like comedy and entertainment. This book qualifies for people 13+. It might not qualify for kids younger because it has a little bit of naughty words. But other than that it's an awesome book.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine you've just moved to a new town. You're small, afraid of everything, and you've been a victim of bullies your whole life. The bully at your new school targets you and just as he's about to beat you up, a ball hits him in the nose. No one sees the ball and they all think you've taken down the bully and broken his nose. Suddenly, you're a tough guy and you have a reputation to live up to. But really, you're just a wimp.

This is Rodney's life and every time he thinks he's going to get found out for who he really is, something else happens to make him seem strong and courageous. And with the prettiest girl in school eyeing you, are you really going to let everyone know who you really are?

This was an absolutely hysterical read!

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Giving it 3 stars is generous. I may change it to two. I liked the main character but the other characters... yeah, pretty much all of them, were so flat it became annoying. It seemed Rodney had NO ONE who would really listen to him. The adults are either clueless or completely, comically villainous. I enjoyed Rodney's development and growth in self-awareness. But the truly evil or crazed teacher... By then I felt like I was watching a Nickelodeon cartoon. But I think fourth and fifth graders would enjoy it. Oh, and the stupid names. The school personnel had ridiculous babes and his three New York best friends, similarly. It was just too much ridiculousness in an otherwise serious-ish book about fitting in and dealing with bullies.

[Addison Children's Services · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rodney is the new kid at school. This is good for him, as he was the target of a major bully at his old school. However Rodney is afraid of everything and expects things at the new school to fall into a similar pattern. But just as the new bully is about to pound him, a baseball sails in from nowhere, breaks the bully's nose and disappears under a bush. No one saw it but Rodney and everyone, bully included, thinks Rodney packs a powerful punch. And so the story continues, things look bad for our hero and a serendipitous occurrence miraculously makes things go his way without anyone being the wiser.

[Julia (Pages for Thoughts) · Rating 4 out of 5]

One thing that I enjoyed was how funny the book was! All the random things that happened were very funny to read, as well as to see the reaction of the people he beat! There were a lot of twists and turns in the book, but it still flowed nicely and was still focused. I think that the approach to the bullying that was taken was more amusing than serious. I would advise readers to not approach handling bullying in the way that this was. I was disappointed that the adults in the book were not helpful in the situation. Read my full review at http://pagesforthoughts.blogspot.com/...

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was funny and definitely captured the voice of its main character (Rodney Rathbone). The whole feel of the book is like an after school special complete with a tinge of boy/girl issues, lots of friends, over the top scenarios, crazy teachers…. Rodney unbelievably escapes various bullying incidents through crazy scenarios, but his classmates think he's super tough and smart. The book drags on too long for my tastes, but I think average 4th-6th graders will find it funny and engaging.

[Jonathan R · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that this book deserves 4 stars because this book was really funny. It is about a kid named Rodney and he is a new kid at a school and there is a bully that his name is Josh and he hates new kids so josh decides to bully him.Josh tells him to go outside during recess and go meet him outside.So josh is beating up Rodney when a baseball hits Josh's face and they send him to the nurse and Rodney to the principles office.I think you guys should really read it.

[Terrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rodney Rathbone is glad to be leaving NYC and moving away from the class bully, Rocco. But Ohio has bullies too. Lucky for Rodney, a few unexpected twists, a beautiful girl, and some great friends, help in his defense. But when the teacher and principal get involved, can Rodney keep coming out ahead?

This was a lot of fun to read. I think kids will love it.

[Rorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

it's awsomer than any thing in the world you should get it to read saves time for everything in the world that's all I have for you today bye¡!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#!! !!!!!!$ $$$$$$ !!!!!!!$$$$$!!!$$ SaaS model of the best ways in public and private sector organisations are going 546464your way to get to see you soon they love you

[Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okay book. I liked how the author portrays school life, and how the protagonist accidentally gets a "tough guy" reputation. I also liked how the book really develops the main character. One of the things I didn't like was how extreme the antagonists went to stop the protagonist from even having fun. I would recommend this book to someone who likes some humor and a good story overall.

[Sandra Porter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rodney is definable an underdog.But when he moves to a new school,
due to a sersies of very unbelievable events, he "beats" the bullies. I think kids that are underdogs would enjoy this, as the bullies get one-upped at every corner.

[JoEllen Mccarthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I laughed out loud and think Tweens will too. Lots of references for New Yorkers.