Mind Over Bullies: A Mob Forms by D.K. Smith Spotlight!

  

New Novel Tackles Bullying, Bullycide Epidemic. Draws Comparisons to Hunger Games

YA author, D.K. Smith was shocked by the astounding rate of teen suicides resulting from bullying. Wanting to send a positive message to bullying victims wrapped in a cleverly told fictional tale, Smith may have created the next hot YA novel.

Preview the book here: http://www.mindoverbullies.com/book-p...

Margo is pretty, popular and unsympathetic to just how intense bullying can get. As a counterfeiting plot sweeps through the city of Oak View, life for Margo will change dramatically.

With a mystery unfolding, an unlikely group of heroes emerges. Bullied teens love them, the police hate them and bullies fear them. Together they will try to get to the bottom of the counterfeiting mystery while ingeniously teaching a few bullies a lesson or two along the way… that is, if the police don’t catch them first.

Los Angeles, California, USA – According to a 2014 U.S. High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey,  14.8% of students surveyed nationwide admit being electronically bullied (including through e-mail, chat rooms, instant messaging, websites, or texting during the 12 months before the survey) as reported by anti-bullying website NoBullying.com.The act of bullycide (suicide resulting from bullying) has escalated as well, and at an alarming rate, with the trend expected to continue.

It was only four years ago that author D.K. Smith was awaiting the birth of his niece, Summer, the first grandchild of the family. Thoughts of a new addition spurred Smith to begin creating a children’s book series with characters created specifically for his niece to be. Now four years later the smith family boasts seven grandchildren, but with the joy of an expanding family came the realization that inevitably the little ones would grow up and be confronted with some of the ugly realities of life−bullying and bullycide in particular.

“It brought a measure of sadness actually,” Smith said, when asked about the possibility of his nieces and nephews being faced with bullying in its various forms. More investigation into the topic brought on more disturbing revelations. “One day I came across a story in the news about a young girl that jumped in front of a subway train after weeks of bullying. As I searched further, I was shocked at the number of similar stories I encountered. Bullycide, the news was calling it. It was happening with teens all over the world. I thought, wow, what if these young people had been shown that the pain of bullying can be handled without hurting themselves or someone else.”

The initial astonishment over the massive issue got the creative juices flowing. The result was a 108,000 word novel that has drawn comparisons by some to The Hunger Games. ‘Mind Over Bullies: A Mob Forms’ follows Margo Rios, a pretty and popular teen from Oak View High School, as she learns just how intense bullying can get. The comparisons to the wildly popular Suzanne Collins Hunger Games novel are likely born from the strong teen female lead character, robust cast of other multi-dimensional characters and the variety of engaging personalities that Mind Over Bullies puts presents.

The main character Margo, is followed closely in likeability by a group of unlikely heroes that set out to solve a citywide mystery and teach bullies a lesson in understanding through cleverly executed plans and cutting edge technology.

The story is ingeniously told with simultaneously unfolding plots−a mystery involving a counterfeiting ring and of course, that of bullying−that keep the plot moving and the pages turning at a steady pace. The story goes far beyond what a reader might imagine they would encounter in a story of this nature with twists and turns that are unexpected. US based book reviewer SPR Book Review called Mind Over Bullies “Suspenseful, shocking, and introspective,” following up with an alert to readers that the book is ”worth the time,” and carries an “overall message of overcoming adversity.” Advance copy reviewers are already in expectation of the sequel and even a cinematic adaptation of the novel.

Still, even with much positive feedback in advance of the August release of Mind Over Bullies, Smith has kept the original goal in mind. “I recognize that the characters and situations in the book may not represent every bullying situation and that realistically the book won’t change the world, but I do sincerely hope that it sends a subtle message about there being life after bullying. If just one young person can grasp that point from the story, I will be proud. We’ll just have to see how the public continues to receive it,” Smith said.

Go here to read an excerpt

Go here to learn more about the book and author!

http://www.mindoverbullies.com/

KHAMICOM

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