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Bully For You: Novelist Urges Local Teenagers To Stand Tall

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By GEOFF FOX, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 3, 2007

ZEPHYRHILLS - At 6-foot-10 with a size 13 shoe, Doug Wilhelm doesn't look like he could be bullied.

But like the main characters in "The Revealers," Wilhelm's novel for young adults, the former college basketball player said he was often picked on in middle school. Wilhelm, 55, hasn't forgotten the emotional pain, and he thought writing about it would help others.

Apparently, it has.

Since "The Revealers," featuring the characters Russell, Elliot and Catalina, was published in 2003, Wilhelm has spoken at more than 90 schools in his native Vermont and dozens of others across the country. This week, he spoke at Weightman Middle School in Wesley Chapel and at Hudson Middle.

"I was skinny and awkward, one of those misfits," Wilhelm said. "I was inept socially, and physically an ugly duckling. The idea didn't come from that, although it informed me. My son Brad is now in college, but when he was in second grade he told me that he and some friends had a secret bully lab, a place where they lured the bullies and dissected their brains.

"I was asking him questions, and what he was really doing was sitting under the slide of the playground and watching the bullying. It happens on every playground. Brad and his friends noticed that some kids bully and some never do, even some of the popular kids. They were trying to understand what goes on inside the brains of the kids who bully."

At Weightman and Hudson middle schools, "The Revealers" was part of the One Book, One Community program in which the entire school simultaneously reads the same work.

Before deciding on "The Revealers," Kirsten Joyer, assistant principal at Weightman, said school officials got positive responses when they called other schools that had used "The Revealers" as part of the reading program.

"It deals with relevant issues surrounding the topic of bullying," she said. "It's a timely piece of literature, and the kids really like it and get into it. We figured since we were kicking off a schoolwide bullying program, this would be good way to do it."

The book "is about a group of kids, and they take a stand. It just deals with the general things we discuss whenever we think of bullying. I think it has made a difference in the climate at our school and changed the way our students view the topic of bullying."

Thursday morning at Weightman, Wilhelm read excerpts and explained his writing process to a cafeteria full of sixth-graders.

In one scene, Russell is confronted by his antagonist, an older boy named Richie, who makes Russell give him the A&W Root Beer he just bought. Richie then twists the cap off and pours soda over Russell's head.

To accurately describe what that would feel like, Wilhelm explained, he poured A&W over his own head while standing fully dressed in the bathtub.

After hearing how sensitive their scalps are, dozens of children moved their fingers through their hair.

"They're each misfits," Wilhelm said of the main characters. "One is a new girl from another culture, another is a kid who always gets dumped on, and the third is a boy who has suddenly attracted the attention of this older tough guy. They come together to investigate why they are being bullied and what they can do about it."

In the media center at Weightman on Thursday afternoon, Wilhelm played game-show host while three groups of students competed in a "Jeopardy"-style game featuring questions related to "The Revealers." During the nearly one-hour contest, there were only a few questions that no team could answer.

As he left the media center, sixth-grader Charles Ford III, 12, said he liked the book because it showed how three kids could unite to solve a problem they shared. He said bullying at Weightman has decreased since students began reading "The Revealers."

"Now, every bully knows the reasons" for such behavior, he said.

Sixth-grader Alison Colon, 11, said she enjoyed "The Revealers" because it "opens our eyes to what bullying really is."

"It happens at all schools," she said. "It shouldn't be pushed aside because it can be dangerous. It can make kids not want to go to school.

"People shouldn't make fun of people who are really smart or might look different. Even though they're smart and look different, they can still be friendly."

For more on Wilhelm and his book, go online to www.the-revealers.com.

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 948-4217 or gfox@tampatrib.com.

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