‘Backlash’ by Sarah Darer Littman

High-school student Lara tries to kill herself after a boy who’d friended her on Facebook cruelly rejects her with a public post to her wall, saying the world would be better off without her.

But the boy, “Christian,” was a made-up account and the person who was really behind it was Lara’s neighbor and former friend Bree.

A friend of Bree’s knew and offered suggestions to make Christian seem more believable — and when Bree’s mother found out, she wanted to play-act Christian too.

Their involvement comes to light during the investigation, and they are vilified and shunned; Bree’s phone is hacked and the new recorded greeting invites callers to leave her death threats. Bree’s entire family suffers from the fallout, even though her father and brother were unaware of the incident.

Author Sarah Darer Littman said she was inspired to write Backlash “after reading news stories about several cyberbullying incidents and the online vigilantism that occurred in the name of making the bullies ‘pay.’”

I’d been familiar with some of these headlines myself, given my personal history as bullying-target turned crusader, who advocates that school- and work-communities unite to defeat bullying.

So with that history, I was drawn to read Littman’s book, and I found it very impressive.

Multiple-character viewpoints portray the broad and destructive impact that an incident of bullying can have. I recommend this book be read by teens and adults.

Disclosure of material connection: My taxes support local libraries’ acquisition of this and other resources. I consider the access I enjoy to be a “priceless” return on my investment.