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The Pressures of Abuse
The Reluctant Bully follows a group of children who try desperately to make sense of the existing pain caused by bullying that occurred long ago. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The characters were originally introduced in my first book of the trilogy, The Lunch Money Treasure. Without giving away the ending of the first book, I wanted to offer different perspectives on bullying, and my intention was to write a more nuanced story for TRB that demonstrates the different ways children handle the pressures of abuse.
What drew you to include the 1982 storyline alongside the 2006 narrative?
Two reasons, and again, I do not want to give away any surprises in either book. I always planned to provide backstories for some characters from TLMT in future books, and the 1982 storyline drives adult decisions in the 2006 narrative. In both books, you are introduced to an adult with a calm demeanor. However, as with a river, what you see on the surface might appear calm, but you do not know what turmoil lies beneath.
Did any of the characters evolve in unexpected ways as you were writing?
Lynn, better known as Smoochie, was supposed to simply be a Nancy Drew-type character in my stories. However, as I was writing TRB, I decided that she would also become a more hardened character and occasionally demonstrate “bull-in-a-china-shop” traits.
What do you hope young readers take away from Lynn’s journey?
That the impossible is possible. I want readers to believe that they can determine their own endings, because they can.
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The Reluctant Bully: A Smoochie Family Story
The Reluctant Bully is a heartfelt story about kids trying to make sense of pain that didn’t start with them. What I liked most is that author Gary Rivera doesn’t treat bullying as a simple good-guy/bad-guy setup. The book keeps circling back to the idea that cruelty often grows out of fear, shame, and hurt, especially through the parallel thread about Miguel in 1982 and the 2006 story centered on Lynn, her brother Matthew, and Jordan. That structure gives the novel a lot more emotional weight than a typical school story.
Lynn’s voice is a big reason the book works. She’s funny, sincere, dramatic in a believable middle-school way, and easy to root for. Her family life gives the story real warmth, too; the “Smoochie” nickname, the cookies with Luna, and the small everyday moments at home keep the book grounded even when the subject matter gets heavy. I also liked how the story slowly opens up from Lynn’s earlier lunch-money mystery into something deeper involving Matthew, Jordan, and the damage bullying can do when it follows a child home.
What stayed with me most is how compassionate the book is without going soft on the harm. Jordan isn’t written as a neat lesson; he’s guarded, hurting, and hard to read, which makes him feel real. Matthew’s role in the story adds another strong layer, especially as he moves from embarrassment and distance toward trying to help. By the end, the book lands on something hopeful without pretending everything is magically fixed, and that felt earned. Mr. Cavanaugh’s connection to Jordan and the final turn toward safety and care give the story a satisfying emotional payoff.
Like Wonder by R.J. Palacio, The Reluctant Bully looks closely at how children treat one another and how empathy can change a life. It also has some of the emotional honesty and family-centered warmth that readers often enjoy in books like Because of Mr. Terupt. One of the book’s strengths is the time it takes with its characters and their day-to-day lives. That steady, detailed pacing gives the relationships room to grow naturally and makes the emotional moments feel even more powerful when they arrive.
I’d call The Reluctant Bully a warm, earnest, emotionally thoughtful read that cares a lot about its characters and has more to say about family, kindness, and second chances than its title first suggests. I would recommend Gary Rivera’s moving story to anyone seeking a story featuring characters grounded in reality who leave readers pondering their own actions long after the last page.
Pages: 288 | ASIN : B0FH6BL6BV
