Books like The Bully

A tense, highly relatable high school drama about finding the courage to stand your ground when you feel completely alone. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with The Bully.

tense
anxious
grounded
hopeful

01
Survivor
Paul Langan
A tense, emotionally charged story about the suffocating weight of a secret and the fierce courage required to finally speak the truth.
Shares:
- tense
- anxious
- earnest
- direct
02
Brothers in Arms
Paul Langan and Ben Alirez
A tense, emotionally charged exploration of grief and the heavy cost of revenge.
Shares:
- tense
- earnest
- empathetic
- gritty
03
The Recess Queen
Alexis O'Neill · 2002
A lively, high-stakes schoolyard showdown that captures the tension of playground power dynamics.
Shares:
- tense
- direct
04
Yaqui Delgado Wants To Kick Your Ass
Meg Medina
A tense, deeply empathetic exploration of how the looming threat of high school violence can shrink your world, and what it takes to expand it again.
Shares:
- tense
- anxious
- grounded
- earnest
05
Stand tall, Molly Lou Melon
Patty Lovell · 1994
A joyful, chest-puffing celebration of owning exactly who you are, quirks and all.
Feels:
- cheerful
- triumphant
- warm
06
No Way Out
Peggy Kern
A tense, high-stakes descent into the dangerous realities of urban survival and desperate choices.
Shares:
- tense
- anxious
- earnest
- gritty
07
Schooled
Gordon Korman
A hilarious and heartwarming collision between radical hippie idealism and the cynical jungle of middle school.
Shares:
- earnest
08
Powerless
Matthew Cody · 2009
An action-packed, comic-book-infused mystery that explores the bittersweet transition of growing up and the hidden strength of being ordinary.
Shares:
- hopeful
- earnest
09
Secrets in the Shadows
Anne E. Schraff · 2001
A fast-paced, high-stakes spiral into guilt and paranoia where one bad decision threatens to unravel a teenager's entire life.
Shares:
- tense
- earnest
10
Don't Call Me Ishmael!
Michael Gerard Bauer
A hilarious and heartfelt survival guide to the mortifying ordeal of being known in middle school.
Shares:
- earnest
11
Shattering Glass
Gail Giles · 2002
A chilling, dread-soaked descent into the toxic, manipulative underbelly of high school popularity where a cruel social experiment spirals into inevitable tragedy.
Shares:
- tense
12
Hate list
Jennifer Brown · 2009
A raw, unflinching exploration of guilt, grief, and the agonizingly slow journey toward self-forgiveness in the wake of unimaginable tragedy.
Shares:
- tense
- earnest
- empathetic

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