Chrissa

by Mary Casanova

Book Overview

Chrissa Maxwell moves to a new school, and the girls in her fourth-grade class are unfriendly. Her grandmother encourages her to be nice, but the bullying continues. Chrissa must find the courage to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1593695667
• ISBN13: 9781593695668
• Release Date: March 2009
• Publisher: American Girl Publishing Inc
• Length: 132 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.3" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 8 to 10 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 5

Customer Reviews

A Must Read!

Definitely a great read for all girls (and boys)! Really brings home the point that even as children, we need to stand up for ourselves. Reminds the parents that we need to step in sometimes. Our whole family has read the book and then enjoyed the movie!

Excellent book on a timely topic

I read "Chrissa" while traveling over the weekend and was just charmed. Mary Casanova has really hit the nail on the head with her theme of bullying and has created a spunky, endearing character in Chrissa.

Great book, great topic

I'm an adult who has read all the American Girl "Girl of the Year" stories, dating back to Lindsey. This story may be my favorite one so far, I think, because the topic is so universal. Chrissa's family moves to a new state to help her grandmother after her grandfather passes away. As if leaving your friends and school behind isn't bad enough, Chrissa is instantly singled out by three mean girls in her class and picked on. Bullying has probably always been around, but it has been on the rise both in frequency and severity in the past few years. The introduction of the internet has taken bullying to a whole new level. There have been stories in the news about children committing suicide after being bullied to the point of hopelessness. Chrissa's case isn't nearly so severe, but it's a good example of what goes on in schools these days. And it doesn't help when you have parents who refuse to believe their children ever do anything wrong. That's the case with the mother of the head bully in this story, Tara. Like many children, Chrissa is afraid to tell anyone what the Mean Bees are doing to her for fear of being branded a tattle-tale. But keeping the bullying to herself is really tearing her up inside and causing her a lot of stress. Only when she asks her mother if she can stay home from school does the full story come out. In this story the principal takes the bullying seriously and vows to take action. Today many schools are learning the consequences of bullying and trying to crack down on it. A book like this is great because girls may think they are the only ones going through this and seeing that Chrissa is having the same problem may make it easier for them go to their parents or teachers with their problem. Hopefully, having a popular company like American Girl do a book on bullying will help bring even more attention to the problem. This is a wonderful book to buy for girls aged 7-12.

sensitive and timely issue written about impressively

I am a teacher that worked in a public school system for eight years. Bullying was a problem that took place even in a school with very diligent teachers and administrators. I also remember incidents from my own school days, and how much it hurt to be singled out as a target. The thing that concerned me the most back then, and that I have heard my own students express, is the fear of being branded a "tattle-tale" and having the bullying escalate. That issue was addressed very well in this book; that "tattling" is telling to bring someone else down; "telling" an adult is standing up for yourself, so the problem will be stopped. I think it is wonderful that American Girl is putting out material that addresses this very real issue, and in a way that young girls will relate to very well. The author is very up-to-date on her material, even to the issue of "cyber-bullying", which has become very prevelant recently. I would highly recommend this book, its sequel, and the companion movie for ANYONE who has a young daughter or who works with children.

Hooray for Pleasant Company for taking on this real issue!

I'm a writer who writes young adult novels that deal with topics like bullying and often hears from teens who are bullied themselves. I also have two daughters, 9 and 13. The 13-year-old has been bullied a lot at school, and when I read this book, it rang true for the things that have happened to my daughter. In this book, the mean girls are more socially savvy than the heroine, Chrissa, and their parents think they're perfect -- which makes it hard when Chrissa tries to speak out. The book deals with Chrissa's fear of being a tattletale or being blamed for the bullying and also, her confusion and hope that she might be able to make friends with one of the mean girls. It also shows that by not telling an adult about the bullying in the first place, she makes it harder on herself once there is a bigger incident, because the adults are not aware of the history, so it is just her word against the bully's. I gave it to my 9-year-old, who is also really enjoying it. She's read a lot of the other AG books, but she says this one is more realistic because "In the books like Molly, everything is so perfect and they act like there are no mean girls in school." Even if a child isn't bullied personally, they are affected by issues like this, so this book paints a more realistic portrait of their world.