Books About Bullying & Standing Up
Page 1 of 2 · sorted by reading level
Stories about dealing with bullies, building resilience, and finding your voice.
113 books
This collection of 113 books about bullying & standing up spans Grade 1–8. Reading level alone doesn't tell parents whether a book is right for a child — text difficulty and emotional weight grow at different rates, especially for strong, twice-exceptional, or sensitive readers. HootRated rates every book on this list for both, so you can match to your child's actual readiness on both axes.
Across this list, 50% of the titles are rated Gentle or Mild — appropriate for sensitive readers or kids reading ahead of their emotional comfort zone. 6% are rated Intense or Very Intense, with heavier thematic territory for readers ready to tackle weighty subjects. Average content intensity for the list is 2.5/5.
Use the intensity badges (color-coded green → red) to filter by emotional readiness rather than just age. For more on what each intensity level means, see our rating methodology.
Little Troll
Penny Dolan
Snow day!
Lester L. Laminack
Amazing Grace
Mary Hoffman
Junior Spy
Kiara Kattler
Pat and Alex
Andy Coombs
Ugly Duckling (Classic Fairy Tales)
Hans Christian Andersen
The Secret Hideout
Susan Hill Long
The dodgeball chronicles
Frank Cammuso
Kyle's Little Sister
BonHyung Jeong
At the farm
Sandy Francis
Karate Kid Saga Continues
Denton J. Tipton
Shipwreck Saturday
Bill Cosby
Just a daydream
Mercer Mayer
Peter Pan
Susan Hill Long
The artist and me
Shane Peacock
Just a bully
Gina Mayer
Karen's bully
Ann M. Martin
Wild Animals!
Laurent Richard
Air
Tamra B. Orr
Clowns and dragons!
Laurent Richard
Karen's secret
Ann M. Martin
Kickoff blitz
Blake A. Hoena
Presumed missing
Nancy K. Wallace
How I Learned To Fly
R. L. Stine
Karen's School Bus
Ann M. Martin
Oddly normal
Otis Frampton
Anywhere but Paradise
Anne Bustard
Broken Chains (Uptown Downtown Series)
Fearon
Insults Aren't Funny
Amanda Doering
Sometimes Jokes Aren't Funny
Amanda Doering
The fall
James Preller
The lightning bugs
Patrick Jennings
The other boy
M. G. Hennessey
Are You Terrified Yet?
Robert Lawrence Stine
Dealing with teasing
Lisa K. Adams
Party!
Diana G. Gallagher
Beware!
Diana G. Gallagher
Karen's Half Birthday (Baby-Sitters Little Sister)
Ann M. Martin
My Hero Academia
Kōhei Horikoshi
Robin Hood
Paul D. Storrie
The Little Wood Duck
Brian Wildsmith
Horrible Harry and the dragon war
Suzy Kline
My Friend Slappy
Robert Lawrence Stine
Big Game Jitters
L. M. Nicodemo
A Faraway Island
Annika Thor
Gabby Torres Gets a Billion Followers
Angela Dominguez
Guilty!
Diana G. Gallagher
Just a drop of water
Kerry O'Malley Cerra
Just my rotten luck
James Patterson, Chris Tebbetts
Off Base
Jake Maddox
Revenge of the bully
Scott Starkey
Second Chances
V. E. Schwab
The infinity year of Avalon James
Dana Middleton
Trouble Talk
Trudy Ludwig
Defiance
Chris Mowry
Trick or Trap
Robert Lawrence Stine
Horrible Harry and the battle of the bugs
Suzy Kline
My new team
Ryan Howard
Horrible Harry and the hallway bully
Suzy Kline
Millie and the Great Drought
Natasha Deen
Odd, weird & little
Patrick Jennings
Penguins
Emilie U. Lepthien
Armstrong & Charlie
Steven Frank
Caroline & her sister
Maria D. Wilkes
The skin I'm in
Sharon G. Flake
Claudia and the Little Liar
Ann M. Martin
Pop Hooper's perfect pets
Kyle Mewburn
Slant
Laura E. Williams
Way of the warrior kid
Jocko Willink
The quick fix
Jack D. Ferraiolo
Cody Simpson
Heather E. Schwartz
Superman Battles the Billionaire Bully
Matthew K. Manning
Adrian and the Tree of Secrets
Hubert
Black Soldier
John Clarke
Goodbye Marianne (Flyways)
Irene N. Watts
Harriet the Spy
Louise Fitzhugh
How it feels to have a gay or lesbian parent
Judith E. Snow
Joaquin strikes back
Jerry McGinley
Mission (un)popular
Anna Humphrey
My Own Lightning
Lauren Wolk
No More No Name
Tim Tingle
Wonder
R. J. Palacio
The rookie bookie
L. Jon Wertheim
Lost and found
Anne E. Schraff
Safe social networking
Heather E. Schwartz
Lewis Hamilton
Ryan G. Van Cleave
The air down here
Gil C. Alicea
Camp Average
Craig Battle
Okay for now
Gary D. Schmidt
Sins of the father
Norah McClintock
The best Christmas
Jane B. Mason
Circle of secrets
Kimberley Griffiths Little
Matilda
Roald Dahl
Super Fly
Todd H. Doodler
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Jeff Kinney
When bad things happen to bad people
Cynthia Voigt
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
J. K. Rowling
Raising Rufus
David Fulk
Wolf Hollow
Lauren Wolk
Grand Canyon
Linda Vieira
For teens (ages 13+)
63 more books on this list are written for readers 13 and up. A few of them:
Bully #1
Greg Pak
Bully #1
Greg Pak
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Burn
Suzanne Phillips
Burn
Suzanne Phillips
Protected
Claire Zorn
Protected
Claire Zorn
Tomboy : a graphic memoir
Liz Prince
Tomboy : a graphic memoir
Liz Prince
Scum
James C. Dekker
Scum
James C. Dekker
The distance between lost and found
Kathryn Holmes
The distance between lost and found
Kathryn Holmes
Darius the Great Deserves Better
Adib Khorram
Darius the Great Deserves Better
Adib Khorram
Ghetto cowboy
Greg Neri
Ghetto cowboy
Greg Neri
Pure Spring
Brian Doyle
Pure Spring
Brian Doyle
Flawless
Sara Shepard
Flawless
Sara Shepard
Under Shifting Stars
Alexandra Latos
Under Shifting Stars
Alexandra Latos
Breaking rank
Kristen D. Randle
Breaking rank
Kristen D. Randle
All the rage
Courtney Summers
All the rage
Courtney Summers
Everybody sees the ants
A. S. King
Everybody sees the ants
A. S. King
Nowhere to Hide
Kim Sigafus
Nowhere to Hide
Kim Sigafus
Pretty Little Liars
Sara Shepard
Pretty Little Liars
Sara Shepard
The Book Thief
Markus Zusak
The Book Thief
Markus Zusak
The cemetery boys
Zac Brewer
The cemetery boys
Zac Brewer
The five stages of Andrew Brawley
Shaun David Hutchinson
The five stages of Andrew Brawley
Shaun David Hutchinson
The outsiders
S. E. Hinton
The outsiders
S. E. Hinton
Walk the Edge (Thunder Road Series, Book 2)
Katie McGarry
Walk the Edge (Thunder Road Series, Book 2)
Katie McGarry
Zom-B
Darren Shan
Zom-B
Darren Shan
Crushed
Sara Shepard
Crushed
Sara Shepard
Questions parents ask about this list
- What's on this books about bullying & standing up list?
- Books About Bullying & Standing Up contains 113 books spanning Grade 1–8. Stories about dealing with bullies, building resilience, and finding your voice. Every book on the list is rated for reading level and content intensity so you can pick what matches your child.
- What age range is appropriate for this list?
- Books on this list span Grade 1–8. 57 (50%) are rated Gentle or Mild; 7 (6%) are rated Intense or Very Intense. Average intensity is 2.5/5. Match the intensity badge to your child's emotional readiness.
- How is this list curated?
- HootRated rates every book on this list for both reading level (text difficulty) and content intensity (emotional weight) — the two axes parents need to choose books. See our methodology for how books make a curated list.