Ebony, Eris, and Emani Robertson have been through so much more than most high school freshmen. When they were younger, they survived a school shooting that killed their friend and left their oldest sister unable to speak. After giving homeschooling a try, they enroll in a promising new academy, hoping for the best.
Welcome to one of the August 3rd stops on the blog tour for Battle of The Bullies by Fenyx Blue with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, 7 more reviews, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.
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About the Book
Battle of the Bullies
by Fenyx Blue
Published 28 October 2020
Wisdom Works
Genre: YA Contemporary Fiction
Page Count: 313
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Ebony, Eris, and Emani Robertson have been through so much more than most high school freshman. When they were younger, they survived a school shooting that killed their friend and left their sister unable to speak. After giving home-schooling a try, they enroll in a promising new academy, hoping for the best. Unfortunately, they get the worst news. They have become the targets of an anonymous group of bullies who call themselves The Dimes. Can they bring down The Dimes all while trying to make it through the ninth grade?
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Excerpt
An Excerpt from Eris
The locker room is silent after the varsity girls whip us for the fifth time since we’ve been practicing together. The silence allows me to channel my big sister Ebony’s zen energy. I decide to give an Ebony-type motivational speech when one of my teammates says she’s thinking about quitting and trying out for either dance or cheerleading. Is she kidding? I’ve seen my baby sister Emani dance and it ain’t easy to do. My teammate can’t even make it through practice without her asthma medicine. There is no way she could do dance at C.I.A. Emani says those girls practice longer than we do.
I want to tell her that, but instead I stick to the Ebony-style motivational speech.
“Do you guys think those varsity girls were always that good? They were not. All of them used to be us. The difference is that they have not quit. We have. Some of you quit before we even go on the court. You think you’ve failed so you fail. Well, I’m no failure. I’m a winner. If you think you can win, shout yes!”
Two of my teammates shout yes. The rest sit silently watching the varsity girls enter the locker room as they sing their usual victory chant. Maybe I should have asked Ebony to write a speech for me because my teammates are more focused on the varsity’s chant than they were on my “motivational” speech.
“1-1-2-2-3-3. No one beats varsity. 1-1-2-2-3-3. No one beats varsity. 1-1-2-2-3-3. No one beats varsity.”
I hate their chant.
“No one but me,” I say under my breath as I slam my gym locker closed.
My Review
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
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I was granted complimentary access to Battle of the Bullies as part of my participation in a blog tour for this title with Goddess Fish Promotions. Thank you to all involved for affording me this opportunity! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.
The Robertson triplets can’t catch a break. After surviving a school shooting and various other horrible events in their old town, the girls and their now-mute older sister become the targets of a downright dangerous group of bullies at their new school. Unfortunately for the bullies, these girls aren’t the pushovers they’re used to targeting, and they’re not going to rollover and take it while they wait for teachers and administrators to step in.
This is a powerful story about strength, sisterhood, and the reality of bullies in the school environment. Although the plots are entirely unrelated, I couldn’t help but think these sisters seemed like either a different point in time or an alternate timeline version of the family of One of the Good Ones by Maika & Maritza Moulite. This book has a lot to say and a lot to teach about loving and defending yourself, growing in the face of grief and stress, and knowing when to save yourself because no one else is going to do it for you.
Despite the amazing lessons and powerful themes of this book, I can only rate it a 3.5. The pacing of this book made it hard to stay engaged, and there are a few too many characters to keep track of.
Overall this is a good book and I would highly recommend it for students and parents going through similar bullying situations.
About the Author
BLUE: Bold, Loving, Unapologetic, and Evolving are words to describe Fenyx Blue. Ms. Blue is an author, Youtuber (FENYX BLUE INK), speaker, ministry leader, mentor, instructional coach and her school district’s former “Those Who Excel” Teacher of the Year.
Ms. Blue is a soldier in the Blue Fenyx movement encouraging every phoenix in the world to rise up. Blue’s mission is to inspire, motivate and
educate. Blue speaks to audiences about their purpose and power and works to coach other authors through their journey to become published.
Her novels are tools for teachers while being candy for students. Fenyx Blue has penned four books in her poetic collection in which she shares true life tales and
lessons: Her first Young Adult novel entitled Who Failed Johnny? (Book 1 of The Triplet Trilogy), second YA novel Battle of the Bullies, a Children’s book called Worth the Weight: A Rare Gem, and a Poetry Book by the name of The Blue Ink Movement. With the help of her extended family and friends network, her self-published books will touch many lives this year.
Ms. Blue is a veteran English Teacher who has worked with readers K-12. However, her expertise lies with middle school and high school students which she has mentored, taught, and coached for almost twenty years. Blue created an organization called Team BFF (Team Bully-Free Forever) and has served as its coach for more than ten years. Her students have partnered with other schools, marched, and provided education on bullying. In addition, Blue directs a youth anti-drug program called Snowflake that helps students to solve problems, build relationships and make positive choices. She created an organization called Dads Rock to bring father figures into her school system to develop relationships with students in order to build their confidence and competence in school.
When Fenyx realized her school did not have an activity for spoken word artists, Blue sponsored a poetry club of junior high students that went on to the final rounds of “The Louder Than a Bomb” competition. Her school has now expanded that club to reach all creative young people and to allow them to share their gifts. With the support of other educators, she developed DIVAS (Daughters Inspiring Values and Sisterhood) to build bonds between middle and high school girls and prepare them to be productive citizens.
Ms. Fenyx Blue lovingly refers to her squad as neighbors on her YouTube channel @Fenyx Blue Ink because she believes we are all connected in some way. One of her goals is to transform into the best version of herself as she helps others to realize their destinies. Ms. Blue is a native of Chicago, Illinois, and loves to travel, learn, garden, and read. Ms. Blue is currently working on finalizing Book III of The Triplet Trilogy before moving on to a work of nonfiction for teachers. Follow Fenyx Blue @FenyxBlueInk on all Social Media platforms.
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Giveaway Alert!
The author will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner and a $5 Starbucks GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway| July 20 | Andi’s Young Adult Books | The Avid Reader |
| July 27 | Stormy Nights Reviewing & Bloggin’ | Travel the Ages |
| August 3 | Sandra’s Book Club | Westveil Publishing |
| August 10 | Our Town Book Reviews | Fabulous and Brunette |
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I look forward to reading this. I am new fan of Fenyx Blue and I have enjoyed the books I have read.