Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.
Upstander  By  cover art

Upstander

By: James Preller
Narrated by: Caitlin Davies
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $11.17

Buy for $11.17

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Girl bullies, internet bullying, and substance use are themes in this James Preller middle-grade stand-alone companion to Bystander.

Mary O'Malley is tired of keeping secrets. Secrets like her older brother Jonny's drug use. Starting seventh grade is tough enough without the upheaval her brother is bringing to their family.

It seems the only person who might understand is Griffen Connolly, whose older sister runs with Jonny in the wrong crowd. Mary thought Griff was too cool, too popular for her. But now he wants to hang out with her, and listen.

When two girls Mary thought were her friends decide to slam another girl online, Mary tries to look the other way. Then the girls turn on Mary, and suddenly, she doesn't have a safety zone. Her brother is out of control; her family's energies are all spent on him. There is only one person she can turn to. But can she trust Griff? Or is he one of the bullies?

©2021 James Preller (P)2021 Tantor

What listeners say about Upstander

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Timely, important message

This story captures the unique pain and challenges of being a sibling who is terrified, angry, and eventually empathetic to her older brother with substance abuse disorder. I recommend it to any young person trying to navigate this journey.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Hard to replicate…..

I so wanted to love this book as I absolutely loved and promoted “Bystander” to my colleagues and even made it part of our required reading for 6th grade. “Bystander” continues to be one of the best novels on bullying. My students loved it, were happy to write about it, and even made their own movies. However,
“Upstander” does not even come close. I appreciate the realistic issues, but the character development was weak. And why did Mary never speak up for her friend?! This would have been an incredible lesson for middle school readers to read & learn. What a missed opportunity.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!