Bystander (2011) is James Preller's novel about one of the impactful things affecting children today: bullying. The novel follows Eric, a seventh grader who recently moved schools. After he gets situated in his new school, Eric meets Griffin, a popular and confident jock who seemingly has it all. And Griffin wants to be Eric's friend, something which Eric heartily accepts. As the two grow closer, Eric realizes that Griffin isn't who he is at first glance. Although he has several very positive qualities, Griffin has a very dark side which causes him to lash out at people he doesn't like. Eventually, Eric discovers who Griffin truly is: a bully and a liar. Quickly, Eric tries to move away from Griffin and disavow his behavior, but he becomes Griffin's next target for his bullying, crushing Eric.
Bystander is one of the most important novels about raising awareness about bullying to be published in the past few decades. To that end, the novel is still being used in schools to this day to teach children about the dangers of bullying (and the bystander effect, which the novel's title references). Kirkus Reviews enjoyed the novel overall but said that they wished it discussed the roles girls play in bullying in a more thorough way. They called the novel "Eminently discussable as a middle-school read-aloud."
