Uzo and the Bully

Tijuana Miller

Description

Uzo is a bright and talented young lady with a big and bubbly personality. She's always been a model student and very active in her home life. But this school year has turned her entire world upside down: she has to deal with bullying. How will Uzo handle the pressure? Can she learn to navigate her situation and come out on top? Find out in Uzo and the Bully: A Story About Childhood Mental Illness!

Sujets

• Fiction Jeunesse
• Juvenilee Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Xlibris US
• Date de parution: 19 août 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669843023
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Copyright © 2022 by Tijuana Miller. 834628
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Xlibris
844-714-8691
www.Xlibris.com
ISBN: 978-1-6698-4303-0 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6698-4302-3 (e)
Rev. date: 08/18/2022




PARENT SECTION
Dear parents,
Before reading, please take this time to let your child know that this is a SAFE SPACE for them to express their feelings and talk openly and freely about what’s going on in their lives. Parents. This is NOT the time to criticize their behavior, feelings, or thoughts. Rather, take this time to truly understand what your child might be trying to get across to you and work on getting to a healthier understanding of how to deal with the emotions and feelings they are having. This book is meant to be used as an educational tool. During yours and your little one’s journey through the story, be sure to look up the terms highlighted in different colors in the glossary in order to get and give a better understanding of the material.
At the end of the story, there is a short Q&A section for you and your child to go over. This section is to be used as a tool to help children understand that they are not alone and to help them better process their feelings and understanding of what is going on in their big, beautiful brain.
Remember, have fun! Use voices, if your child reads, let them read parts, and allow interruptions. If you need to start an hour in advance before bedtime, start early! The deeper you’re able to dive into the reading, the better chance you’ll have of truly understanding your child and creating a comfortable relationship between the two+ of you where communication is free flowing.








Uzo was such a sweet girl. Always considerate and patient with her Bibi. She was always eager to help when Mama needed her with the laundry or if Daddy needed her help with the cooking and dishes. At night after school, she would do her homework, take a bubble bath, put shea butter on her smooth skin, and plait down her big puffs. Uzo loved her family dearly, but she was keeping something from them: every morning that she left her apartment building to head off to school, she was met by a group of girls that lived there: Dee Pression, Leaux “Selfie” Steam , and Rumi Nation . Dee was the biggest of the three, beautiful in a strong sort of way, but cruel to encounter . Selfie was the prettiest of the bunch. She always wore her pretty locs in two buns on the sides of her head.
Her green eyes would cut through your soul as she told you how unattractive you were in comparison to her creole beauty. And she was ALWAYS taking pictures of herself, her pretty light-colored skin glistening with every snap of the camera flash. Rumi, however, was different. She was quieter than the others. She was Uzo’s friend, but they hung out in secret or else Dee would pick on Rumi just as bad. In Uzo’s mind, Rumi was the reason that they weren’t much worse to her.
On her way to school, Uzo ran smack dab into her troubles. “Heeeeey Uzo! You got your lips all puckered up ready to kiss up to the teacher today?” Dee asked. “Naaaah. She’s a brown noser. Though, I don’t know that you can tell with a nose so dark,” Selfie said, her face the perfect recreation of beauty that Uzo thought that she wanted. “Doesn’t matter what she is. I’m tired of little miss goody two shoes always getting praised in class for math or reading. Maybe if she was as pretty as she thought she was, she wouldn’t be so stuck up,” Dee said, pushing Uzo so that her poor little hands hit the concrete hard. “C’mon Dee let’s go. We’re gonna be late for school,” Rumi finally chimed in, and the girls left Uzo alone with her tears and bruised ego. School was no better. During class, Uzo felt the spit balls careen down the back of her shirt and *SPLAT* right on the back of her neck after she gave the right answer to a question the teacher asked. Later that day, she saw the notes being passed around that Selfie wrote—a picture of a gorilla in a dress with hair just like Uzo’s and a dunce hat on. At recess, she was next to go down the slide and here came




the bullies. Selfie skipped Uzo in line, knowing that Uzo wouldn’t object. Dee got behind her. Uzo waited her turn as Selfie slid down, before climbing up the slide ladder. Dee suddenly pushed Uzo hard down the slide, causing her to land on her hands and knees at the bottom.
These were normal days for Uzo. Maybe not EXACTLY like these, but varying in different degrees. She was tormented and didn’t know how to handle it. At night, Rumi would sneak up the fire escape to Uzo’s room and the girls would gossip . Uzo would have to gauge Rumi’s mood each night in order to decide if tonight was the night that she would ask Rumi to keep Dee at bay for good. If Rumi was happy, she’d make simple suggestions like maybe Uzo wasn’t being nice enough to Dee or maybe Uzo should let them copy her homework. Maybe she should dress nicer. Maybe she should get lower grades in school so that others looked a little better.
But when Rumi WASN’T happy, her suggestions were a little more unkind. She’d say things like maybe if Uzo weren’t so black, the girls would think she was prettier. Maybe if Uzo’s hair weren’t so nappy , the girls wouldn’t try to put spit balls in it. Maybe if Uzo was more in shape, she could better stand up to the torments of Dee and Selfie. Those were very hard nights for Uzo. She would often spend them crying, blaming herself for the torment and abuse that she was sure was her fault. How could it not be? Rumi knew these girls inside out so of course she would know what was going on! If only Uzo knew of a way to make the bullying stop!
Bibi began to notice a change in Uzo. She ate and spoke less, her shrinking frame cloaked with oversized clothes. Her eyes, once bright and shining, were now dull and lifeless and surrounded by black pits. Her smile, once a beacon of pride to Bibi’s poor, tired eyes, was now turned upside down. She noticed that her grades slowly dropped, not all at once, but her once A+ in Spelling went to a C-. Bibi was worried. Unbeknownst to Uzo, Bibi pulled Mama and Daddy off to the side one day and had a long talk with them, and together, they came up with a plan. One night, Bibi quietly knocked on Uzo’s door. “Uzo, my little elephant, may I come in?” “Yes Bibi, just one moment,” Uzo replied. Bibi heard scrambling and waited for the door to crack open. She walked in and sat on the bed. “Come here. Do you know why I call you ‘my elephant’?” Bibi asked