Scrawl

Dec 08, 2011 Catie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011, middle-grade, ya

Well, if you’re looking to get deep into the mind of a bully, this ain’t it. (Go check out Courtney Summers instead.) That’s because Tod Munn isn’t really a bully. Or if he is, he’s a rather benevolent one. He’s also on the honor roll, has perfect attendance, and is a pretty talented seamstress (seamster?). He’s well-read, a fantastic speller, and doesn’t use drugs or drink or even swear.

And okay, yes, this book is written as a series of journal entries from Tod to his guidance counselor so mayb...more Well, if you’re looking to get deep into the mind of a bully, this ain’t it. (Go check out Courtney Summers instead.) That’s because Tod Munn isn’t really a bully. Or if he is, he’s a rather benevolent one. He’s also on the honor roll, has perfect attendance, and is a pretty talented seamstress (seamster?). He’s well-read, a fantastic speller, and doesn’t use drugs or drink or even swear.

And okay, yes, this book is written as a series of journal entries from Tod to his guidance counselor so maybe he's heavily editing/putting a good spin on his own behavior. But I just never got that impression. Even when Tod begins writing in his own private notebook, the journal entries don’t become any more explicit. I never felt like he was lying to me…and I love narrators that lie to me.

However, for what this is – essentially the story of a good kid, forced to deal with poverty, absent parents, and teachers who’ve labeled him the bad kid – it’s an enjoyable read. It’s very rewarding to see Tod discover writing as both a release and a way to examine his own life and try to make it better.

I grew up in similar circumstances as this main character. I can still remember clearly all the mortification that I felt at being poor, using free lunch tickets, having no clothes to wear, no food at home, no parents. I remember shame, selfish desperation, and learned resourcefulness. Unfortunately, this book did not make me recall any of those feelings. In one way I am thankful for that, because I don’t enjoy reliving those memories. But this book would have earned more of my respect if it had challenged me.

Everything here feels toned down and oversimplified. Tod’s home life seems hard, but then much of it is explained away. His bullying, rather tame to begin with, is brushed aside with “mitigating” factors. In fact, Tod isn’t even the real bully…he’s the victim! Of course. The ending is just ridiculous. Tod takes almost no responsibility for anything that he’s done, but when the real bully is finally revealed, no consideration is given to his/her mitigating circumstances. He/she is just plain mean. So yes…let’s all take a walk in Tod’s shoes and understand just where he’s coming from…but everyone else? Nah.

Perfect Musical Pairing

Queen – Under Pressure

This song makes me feel all the emotion about poverty, hunger, and compassion that I think this book is lacking. Put it on after finishing this book if you feel the same way! Or, you could just play it right now…because Queen is one of the greatest bands of all time. You’re welcome.

Also seen on The Readventurer.(less)

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Apr 10, 2012 Lanica rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Teachers, middle school boys, high school boys, readers, students

Shelves: audiobooks, favorites, high-interest-low-level, inner-city-youths, read-alouds-middle-school, read-in-2012, recommend-for-middle-school-book-cl, recommend-for-middle-school-boys, reviewed, young-adult

I loved everything about this book. It had a unique perspective, an unusual protagonist, an interesting format and it was not the same 'message' that kids get beat over the head with in so many YA books.

I would love to have a book club read this and hear how students react to the characters and the situations. I'd especially be interested to see how boys react to it. I am sure to order this book for any library I work in in the future.

I listened to this on audio book and there were a few moment...more

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Apr 24, 2013 Nickie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Scrawl's protagonist is not a nice guy. In fact, high schooler Tod Munn is a barely tolerable guy. In between stealing lunch money, vandalizing school property, and irritating teachers, Tod finally pushes his luck and gets into major trouble.

Instead of being expelled, Tod is sentenced to a few months of detention supervised by his guidance counselor. Mrs. Woodrow requires Tod to write in a journal, and what she discovers about Tod and his friends surprises everyone...

What I liked about this book...more

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Apr 06, 2013 P.M. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Tod Munn is a bully. He extorts money from kids, threatens them, and breaks into the school. So why does the guidance counselor give him a break by only sentencing him to a month of detention? As we read his detention notebook, we find out there is more to Tod than meets the eye. He lives with his mother and stepfather; his room is the glassed-in front porch, and he is ashamed about getting free lunch. When he accidentally knocks over a sculpture made by a classmate who is producing a school pla...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Claudia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-book-challenge-160-books, ya-books

My granddaughter saw my copy over Break and told me she'd read this book and liked it. I'll be interested now in talking to her about what she learned. I'm conflicted about the book, and I guess about Tod. Will see if I can straighten things out as I write.

Tod is in detention. For what? We're not told at the beginning. He and two buddies (Tod calls them Droogs) did something, but are receiving different sentences. They're out raking leaves and doing yard work...he's inside detention hall, writin...more

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Oct 23, 2012 Kara rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is another book where the style it was written almost killed me. Fortunately for me, the story was so heart warming and breaking at the same time, I overlooked it. The entire story is journal entries, alas-Scrawl. Pops gets in major trouble one too many times with his "droogs" after school and faces expulsion. The guidance counselor "saves" him by making him come to her everyday and write in a notebook.
As the entries unfold, we learn about Pops' horrible home life (he isn't beaten, but ther...more

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Oct 17, 2012 Brayan Delcid rated it 4 of 5 stars

Scrawl by Mark Shulman is a book the harsh life a teenager named Tod. Tod thinks that his really bad but he's not at bad as he thinks he is. It all started when Tod and two other guys who call his droogs (partners in crime) get in trouble and they get caught but the weird thing is that he doesn't have to do community work like the two other guys. No he has go to detention and has to write in a journal that soon will become his diary. In that journal Tod rights about the small things that we don...more

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Jul 30, 2012 Anthony rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-fiction

Is there any way to reach a bully? Well I guess that depends why the bully is a bully.

Tod Munn is a bully. He’s the kid that intimidates you until you give up your lunch money. Unfortunately somebody else is horning in on his territory, so by the time Munn gets to his usual prey their pockets are empty. This isn’t sitting well with Tod and his “droogs”, so they are going to have to do something drastic. This time they get caught, but instead of expulsion the school counselor has a different plan...more Is there any way to reach a bully? Well I guess that depends why the bully is a bully.

Tod Munn is a bully. He’s the kid that intimidates you until you give up your lunch money. Unfortunately somebody else is horning in on his territory, so by the time Munn gets to his usual prey their pockets are empty. This isn’t sitting well with Tod and his “droogs”, so they are going to have to do something drastic. This time they get caught, but instead of expulsion the school counselor has a different plan. She sentences Tod to a month of detention with her, where he is to write in a journal every day. Tod might actually prefer to be with his friends who get assigned to outside clean up duty, at least then he could keep tabs on their mutinous ways.

The reader gets to view this story through the pages of Tod Munn’s detention journal. We slowly learn what landed Tod in detention and what his motivations are for bullying others. What we learn is that Tod is very smart, and even talented, but he is from the wrong side of the tracks trying to survive poverty and a bad family life. What we eventually learn is that some kids bully to survive, and some bully because their just mean. While neither path should be condoned the reader will come away with some empathy for Todd, because in addition to his other problems he is also being bullied just not in the straight up, physical, intimidating way that he bullies.

I love books that make me question my perception. Like most other people, I had been bullied a little bit when I was in school, and so I hate bullies. I root against them; I want them to get what they deserve. The assumption is that bullies do what they do because they are mean and horrible people.

Mark Shulman tells us a story from the bully’s perspective though, and he helps us to see that it is completely conceivable that some kids bully as a survival mechanism. Again, it doesn’t make it right, but this story actually made me feel for the bully protagonist. So, now instead of saying - I hate bullies, I’m more likely to say - I hate bullying.

“Scrawl” is one of those stories that you know is good because you get so invested in the character that you want to know what he goes on to do when there are no more words for you to read. Tod is a character that many teens will be able to relate to whether they are a bully or a victim of a bully, and I can see this book as a great conversation starter.
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May 27, 2012 Casandria rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book! It's set up as a journal written by a high school bully for the guidance counselor during detention. The bully himself, Tod Munn, writes with a great sense of humor and irony about his life. You quickly get the sense that Tod has a lot more going on in his life than anyone would realize. And I felt empathy for him as well. It's a great book to introduce the truth that we can never really understand someone else's motivations completely, especially if we don't take the...more

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Mar 19, 2012 Brad rated it 5 of 5 stars

Here's the executive summary of this post: "Scrawl" reveals the inner life of a junior high school bully, a huge, violent, lower class, shambling boy named Tod Munn who is secretly brilliant but plays being an oaf to conceal his intelligence and retain his hidden-in-plain-sight status in the complex social economy of his school. We have so many books about the inner lives of girls or super-powered boys or just good-looking, well-intentioned kids who wind up in bad situations that it's refreshing...more Here's the executive summary of this post: "Scrawl" reveals the inner life of a junior high school bully, a huge, violent, lower class, shambling boy named Tod Munn who is secretly brilliant but plays being an oaf to conceal his intelligence and retain his hidden-in-plain-sight status in the complex social economy of his school. We have so many books about the inner lives of girls or super-powered boys or just good-looking, well-intentioned kids who wind up in bad situations that it's refreshing to read a novel that plumbs the personality of somebody who is trapped and has given up on himself and everyone around him. Shulman writes beautifully and keeps the book from turning into an ABC After School Special (they don't even make those anymore, do they?) exercise in sentimentality. This is a terrific read for anybody, particularly if you like Young Adult (YA) fiction, from a small press with a small marketing budget. You're only likely to hear about it by word of mouth, and my mouth is telling you to go buy it on Amazon or order it from your local bookstore.

The longer version: If you're a Calvin & Hobbes fan like I am, then you might share my mental picture of Tod, which is Moe the elementary school bully.

A few years older and infinitely smarter than Moe, Tod lives with him mom, a seamstress at a down market dry cleaner, and his stepfather Dick, a gardener, who thinks as little of Tod as he has to say to him, which is mostly "keep it down in there." Tod's dad walked out of his life when he was a kid leaving behind only an apology letter that Tod hides in a suitcase under his bed. Poor, sleeping in an under-heated room in a rough-Manhattan-neighborhood apartment with paper thin walls and so little food that he eats both breakfast and lunch at the school cafeteria, Tod is a loser and knows it. He has two companions -- not exactly friends so he calls them his "droogs" -- named Rob and Rex, as well as a younger friend who he looks after on the sly named Bernie. Just about everybody is taken in by Tod's tough guy persona -- even the teachers who can't reconcile his appearance and manner with his high grades -- with the possible exception of Stu, a classmate of Tod's who is blind.

The engine for the novel: Tod is in detention, having been caught doing something we don't learn about until later and sentenced to a month with Mrs. Woodrow, the school guidance counselor, who makes him keep a journal after school every day while Rex and Rod, Tod's co-conspirators, clean the school grounds in the freezing cold as their punishment. Being forced to write uncorks something in Tod, and despite his desire to remain invisible he finds himself describing the school, his home, his life and his lack of options all in arresting detail. From time to time, Mrs. Woodrow writes back to Tod, and it feels like the voice of God when that adult voice writing in italics interjects. As his perspective shifts due to his journaling, Tod's school and home life also begin to open, although there are no scholarships to private school for THIS kid.

Shulman writes first person in Tod's voice, and for the literary-critically minded of you the book is an exercise is "the skaz," a Russian Formalist term that describes when a tale is told convincingly and unerringly from a character's unusual perspective. The most famous American example of the skaz is Twain's "Huckleberry Finn." Just about the only challenge of reading this delightful book is reconciling Tod's appearance with his vocabulary and intelligence, and that's a neat trick on Shulman's part since we only have Tod's own narrative to convince us of his appearance.

Here's the opening paragraph from "Scrawl":

"Think about a pair of glasses for a second. You see them every day but you really don't think about them, I bet. They're just glass and metal, or glass and plastic. Little pieces of glass stuck on your face that mean everything. Maybe they mean you're smart. Maybe they mean you're rich. But definitely they mean you can't see without them. Grind the glass this way, put in a slight curve, and you can see far. Change that curve a hair, just a tiny, minuscule difference, and you can see near. Grab the two lenses between your big hands and twist your wrist -- just SNAP the part over the nose -- now you can't see anything for the rest of the day. That's how it went for fat Ricardo Manzana."

What I like so much about that paragraph is that it starts with a typical writerly observation and then stomps right into Tod's hulk persona. Shulman stops the reader from seeing through the lenses and makes us feel with Tod's hands. That's a neat trick.

Most teenagers feel isolated, misunderstood and powerless. The few that don't are those kids who tragically peak in high school and get to be disappointed with the next sixty or eighty years of life. Tod Munn IS isolated, misunderstood and -- despite his physical strength and intelligence-- powerless. His story is well worth reading.
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Nov 29, 2011 Andrewf rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Scrawl, by Mark Shulman is about a teenager named Tod. He writes a journal about his day for his guidance counsellor, Mrs. Woodrow. The book is in a journal format which includes her comments on things she is curious about. The purpose of her journal was to find more about what Tod is like. The best thing I like about this novel is its depth.
What’s intriguing about Tod is the fact that he plays two roles: the bully and the bullied. He bullies for money so he can get more food, and he gets bulli...more Scrawl, by Mark Shulman is about a teenager named Tod. He writes a journal about his day for his guidance counsellor, Mrs. Woodrow. The book is in a journal format which includes her comments on things she is curious about. The purpose of her journal was to find more about what Tod is like. The best thing I like about this novel is its depth.
What’s intriguing about Tod is the fact that he plays two roles: the bully and the bullied. He bullies for money so he can get more food, and he gets bullied because he is poor, overweight and mean to other kids. “You don’t need no more food. You need to lose some fat, stop picking on kids, get yourself a damn haircut” (37).
The cafeteria lady has the general view of the staff at his school. Tod is seen as a disgrace and not a good role model. This is also proven when in the spelling bee, the teachers bend the rules to make the other finalist win. He realizes this with the thought “How could we put this horrible animal on television?” (55) He also knows that regular people look down on him “Even though when they look at me, all they see is a messed-up soul needing major repairs” (61).
This is interesting because Tod is actually a very different person underneath his own tough guy facade. His mother taught him to sew, and he sews up his friend Bernie’s jacket. It is a slippery slope of kindness, as the book goes on he goes to greater lengths to help people. For example he also convinces himself to help with the school play by sewing costumes while still keeping in his characteristic tough thinking. Even though it interferes with his image that he likes, Tod decides to help the play because he has a more caring and kind side in addition to his rough, tough, buff guy side. However, he develops through the book as he realizes that maybe the rough, tough, buff guy is not the person he wants to be “I’m getting tired of writing down all the crappy things I do to people and having you read it” (174). Another example near the end is his nickname “pops” not fitting him anymore “Yeah I used to pop anyone. The name doesn’t really fit me anymore” (219). I think this was planned on Mrs. Woodrow’s part because she was trying to make him a better person by making him reflect on all the bad and good things he does, even if he does not write them down. His development and his interaction with Mrs. Woodrow and other people changing are also extremely interesting.
However the story does have its downsides. The pace in the beginning of the story was a bit slow, and some readers may not like that. However I felt it was necessary to introduce and develop Tod’s character . Some readers may also like the ending, but I feel it was rushed with only a little transition. Near the end, it was like tripping over things in a dark room, then finding the light switch and turning it on. You only get to see what you trip on after you turn on the lights. The ending feels like a Band-Aid ending, the reason for the whole story was over a little technicality of punctuation.
I feel that this book is a great book with an interesting story and great characters. The only problem was the extremely rushed ending.
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Oct 12, 2011 Brooke rated it 5 of 5 stars

I think that this book is an excellent perceived veiw of a school from a teen bully. He may be a bully, but all that he has said about his grades give me the impression that he means to be tough on the outside but he secretly even says that he studys hard to meet his goals to get good grades. He crumples his papers before he turns them in, plays stupid or coy in class( Tod Munn is in all reading honors classes)while still being top person in class. His teachers do everything they can underhanded...more

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Jul 18, 2011 Peep (Pop! Pop!) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: addicted-to-ya, read-in-2011, really-liked

See I think the back of the book was misleading. I wouldn't describe Tod as an Angry Young Man, nor would I call him a bad boy. Misunderstood and just doing what he has to do is more like it. He's a bully, but not a horrible one. BUT, I know that we read this from Tod's point of view, so it made me biased. Plus, he got picked on, too. Though I didn't understand that part. Bullies aren't the ones that get bullied right? It's the losers that pick on ones that are smaller than them. So Tod is what,...more

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Jul 07, 2011 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

This is the story of a bully, told by the bully. Tod and his friends are caught committing a crime at school. Tod is given after school detention with a guidance counselor where he must keep a detention journal. Tod's friends, are punished with cleaning up trash on the school grounds. At first Tod is reluctant to spill his guts in his detention journal but after a couple of sessions he can't seem to help it. What is scrawled out is the story of a boy who doesn't see any light at the end of his t...more

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Jun 07, 2011 Linda Bell rated it 5 of 5 stars

I didn't know what to think when I opened up this book. I've seen reviews that it's a great great book and I've seen some which say it lacks a plot, or that it's been done before.

Now I've read Scrawl for myself. I am firmly of the belief that it IS a great, great book.

To the readers who must have spies and explosions and palace intrigue: they're here in this book. They're just realistic.

To the readers who say it's been done before: it's true. A boy makes the hero's journey from slacker loser t...more

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Jun 06, 2011 Stevecrandell rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: grades-8-and-up, teens-in-trouble-boys

So the juvie delinquent is really a misunderstood braniac. Tod’s an interesting main character, but he still beats up classmates and takes their lunch money. He essentially lives off petty crimes, both in and out of school.

Tod's teachers either shun him as a loser or bend rules in hopes of his redemption. Where are the ones working for a balance of responsibility and consequences? The counselor steps in, but she seems more of a dramatic ploy than sensible adult, especially given the timing of h...more

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Mar 23, 2011 Jono Jones rated it 4 of 5 stars

Tod “Munnster” Munn is not your typical bully. He is a well-read, clever, and smart bully, one who has read not only Moby Dick and Oliver Twist but Clockwork Orange – and has learned much from such literary endeavors. Todd and his “droogs” have been caught vandalizing school property. His punishment is to write – or scrawl – in a journal his thoughts to the guidance counselor, Mrs. W. Told from a first-person narrative, it becomes clear that Tod is more humorous iconoclast than sociopath, but th...more

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Mar 02, 2011 Kate rated it 5 of 5 stars

It's tough to know where to start with this one... the pitch-perfect, sharp-edged smart-kid-bad-kid voice? The creative and believable "detention notebook" format, complete with quick exchanges between the kid doing time and the teacher-warden? Loved all that...but I think it's the heart of this book that really drew me in (author Mark Shulman might hate that I said that...he's one of those tough guys who probably eats books with "heart" for breakfast, but it's true.) The truth is that Tod, the...more

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Feb 07, 2011 Carol rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-best-books-for-teens, ya, quickpicks

This book is a stunning achievement. Without realizing it, I had been taken through the mind of a tough "lost boy" who, magically before my eyes, went from bad to misunderstood to understood to appreciated. This is the kind of balancing act I rarely see from any YA author; these writers tend to overplay their hands by presuming their readers can't handle nuance.

And yet, Scrawl is just as important for adults to read as teens. Each of us thinks we know a child and has him or her figured out, and...more

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Feb 04, 2011 Carolina rated it 5 of 5 stars

Here's the thing about this book: I sort of didn't want to like it. It's about--and written in the voice of--a bully. And I can't abide a bully. So, I didn't want to sympathize with one. I certainly didn't want to like one. But you know, through the course of reading SCRAWL, I did both of those things. Something else happened too: I began to understand Tod.

But Tod isn't your average ham-fisted, blockheaded bully either. He's intelligent, clever, and ridiculously funny. His drip-dry humor was ju...more Here's the thing about this book: I sort of didn't want to like it. It's about--and written in the voice of--a bully. And I can't abide a bully. So, I didn't want to sympathize with one. I certainly didn't want to like one. But you know, through the course of reading SCRAWL, I did both of those things. Something else happened too: I began to understand Tod.

But Tod isn't your average ham-fisted, blockheaded bully either. He's intelligent, clever, and ridiculously funny. His drip-dry humor was just the sort I usually go for. His voice steals the show and had me turning pages just to see what he would say next. Knocked my slippers off to read him and the way he approached the universe (the writing is quite sharp as well). But it really saddened me, too, because in seeing his sarcasm and his self-deprecation, you also see his unflinching inward look at the ugly reality that is his life. SCRAWL is a vivid portrayal of the ways in which environment can affect more than just a person's ability to feed and clothe himself. You see how deprivation, poverty and neglect affect more than just the physicality of a person.

It's easy to vilify a bully, I guess. Certainly, they're bullies and awful and their behavior shouldn't be tolerated. EVER. But SCRAWL doesn't ask us to tolerate the behavior. It merely says look twice and try to get an idea of why. In reading the story of this particular bully, a person who is clearly not evil or malicious--merely a survivor (and SCRAWL seems to make a distinction)--you can't help but feel hopeful. Because if you understand the why, you might stand a chance at not only protecting the victims of bullying, but maybe also save the bully (and in turn, all potential future victims). In reading the entries from Tod's journal, I felt this blooming sense of surprise. For one, it had me cracking up. Seriously funny stuff--I was so taken by the voice. But also, I was starting to really root for him. Though I cringed at those moments where he would relapse and be an arse, I felt a need to cheer when he would rebound and take a few more baby steps forward. Even though he's telling the story, Tod himself didn't seem to be able to see how his life was changing through the pages of his journal, but the teacher--and the reader--clearly do. And you can't help but hope hope hope that he'll progress and change and become a better person, even though you know his life's not going to miraculously change.

But SCRAWL isn't just a journal. Not only does it not really read like one, it's an actual narrative complete with dialogue that unfolds in a serial way, headlined by the date. But it's not just Tod's story either. Certainly, he's the star and anti-star of the show--you see his triumphs as well as his weaknesses, his flaws, and his seriously poor choices. But through his eyes and a few conspicuous notes jotted down in the "margins" of the book, you also get to see the teacher that has forced him to keep up this journal in detention. In this way, you begin to see the power of a little attention, care and affection. Through a few secondary characters within Tod's story, you also get to see the transformative powers of love (or something kind of like it) and friendship. So, while SCRAWL is a funny, poignant, sometimes really sad story of a bully; it's ultimately the understated story of a bully's redemption--and a story of hope.(less)

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Jan 16, 2011 Susanhayeshotmail.com rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book. Completely devoured it in one afternoon (spent prone on the couch with a sinus headache). I love Tod's voice and found plenty to love about this book, written as Tod's detention journal. It is not just a book about a smart underprivileged kid, though he is both smart and underprivileged. It's not just a book about bullying, though Tod is a bully. No overwrought teen angst in evidence though Tod's navigation of high school life is both amusing and flinch worthy as he hides and...more

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Dec 30, 2010 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

One word: AMAZING. The first thing I noticed was the voice in the book. The book is composed of Tod's "Detention Journal" entries - he has to write in this journal during detention for getting in trouble. It is evident that this author knows a thing or two about character development; the voice is so strong, you feel like you've known Tod for all your life. I wasn't planning on read this 200-something page book in one sitting becuase of only an hour of time to do it in, but it ended up that way....more

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Nov 13, 2010 Robert Kent rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: middle-grade-ninja-reviews

Scrawl by Mark Shulman is a great book and well worth reading and/or purchasing. As you know, I try to get all of my books for free through this blog, but if I were going to pay money for a book, I would pay money for this one. Sometimes you pay $16.99 for a book (Scrawl’s cover price, which I looked up on my free copy) and you feel like you only got $8.99 worth of story. Not so here. I would say I got at least $50.97 worth of story, bare minimum, maybe more. That’s three times the value, at lea...more

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Oct 07, 2010 Martha rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: teens, boys, girls, adults

Recommended to Martha by: Librarian

Shelves: ya, adult-crossover, realistic

Scrawl is a wonderful, intelligent, and funny book. I didn't expect anything from Scrawl when I picked it up. But the author had me from the first paragraph, when our "hero" Tod is busting another teenager's glasses, straight through to the ending, which was as enjoyable and surprising as any.

The book is told in journal form. Tod is in big trouble. We don't know why, and he's sure not going to tell us. At first. But like good, patient teacher, his guidance counselor slowly but surely coaxes the...more

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Oct 23, 2012 Liam Tack rated it 4 of 5 stars

Author Mark Shulman introduces a new story to the world of books, different from many. In this story, the reader looks into the eyes of a bully and his perspective in life. Tod Munn, infamous school bully faces a consequence of keeping a journal for two month in a detention center. In here he records his many stories to help him become a better person.

The reader quickly catches on to Tod's life. He isn't a bad person. He lives a lonely life with his mother who works 12 hour shifts and his abusi...more

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Jan 31, 2013 Bobbie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: awesome-ya-fiction, contemporary-fiction, inspirational, love-love-love, old-friends, perfection, ya

Scrawl was brilliant. I picked it up on a whim because I liked the cover (how shallow am I?), and I'm so glad I did.

First off, I'm so tired of the same message being sent to kids in young adult fiction. The stories today are so un-original and just blahhhhh. I really hate most contemporary fiction because of that.

Scrawl wasn't like that. Scrawl is the story of Todd Munn. A seriously misunderstood bully with a troubled home. When Todd and his friends push the lines, Todd is stuck in detention wi...more

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Dec 15, 2010 Shelley Daugherty rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shulman takes a first person account of a bully, and turns it into a fantastic, learning adventure for anyone who picks it up. Tod is your average bully who has been sentenced to detention for about a month because of breaking in and "stealing" the camcorder from the school along with his buddies. While the other boys are sent to do "hard labor", Tod is trapped after school everyday writing his "scrawl" in a journal.

But what is so special about Tod? Why is he treated differently than the other...more

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Apr 05, 2011 Ashley rated it 2 of 5 stars

I actually feel kind of bad for giving this book 2 stars. Everyone else who's read this book seems to love it. I thought it was mediocre. It was interesting enough that I wanted to finish it, but not so fantastically amazing that I just couldn't put it down.

Things I liked about this book:
I liked the style in which this book is written. It's not formal writing. It's all a "journal" from a high school bully kid, so it's not written like a typical fiction novel. I also thought the narrator - the hi...more I actually feel kind of bad for giving this book 2 stars. Everyone else who's read this book seems to love it. I thought it was mediocre. It was interesting enough that I wanted to finish it, but not so fantastically amazing that I just couldn't put it down.

Things I liked about this book:
I liked the style in which this book is written. It's not formal writing. It's all a "journal" from a high school bully kid, so it's not written like a typical fiction novel. I also thought the narrator - the high school bully - was very funny sometimes. A quote that literally made me lol:

"Next class was Art class. I was supposed to be drawing a bird. Any kind of bird. The only birds I know are the pigeon, the chicken, and the middle finger."

There are a few moments like that one that made me laugh. But other than that, nothing about this book was especially interesting.

Things I didn't like about this book:
Usually I can tell when I am going to really enjoy a book because I get sucked in fairly quickly - usually within the first 50 or 60 pages. That didn't happen with this book. I saw the endless positive reviews this book had so I kept thinking "it's gonna get really good really soon" and I spent the entire time reading this book waiting for that to happen. And because it never did happen, this book was a slow read for me. It's the kind of book that, if it interests you, you can breeze through a chapter in a few minutes and before you know it, you're done. However, because it never sucked me in, I couldn't read large portions of this book at once. I'd read 2 to 3 chapters a day, then put it down because I was bored. Because of that, it took me a lot longer to read this book than it should have. I could've gotten through this book in a day and a half, considering I was busy most of the day on the day I picked this up. And the last thing I didn't like about this book is that I never really grew to like any of the characters, even the main character/narrator. Usually the main character is a person who you like from the beginning because they're the good guy, or they are the bad guy, but they grow on you and you empathize with them after you learn about their hard lives and whatnot. The main character in this book is an underprivileged kid who is a lot smarter and talented than he lets people think. Normally, I would've felt sympathy for that kind of character. But something about this kid made me indifferent. Also, I was expecting the main character to experience a lot of emotional and mental growth by the end of the book, but I found the character fell short in that area.

Overall, this was an extremely mediocre book, in my opinion. Nothing special, new, unique, different, or ahead of its time in this one. To be completely honest, the only thing that really encouraged me to finish this book [I almost gave up about 70% of the way through] is knowing it'd be one more book to add to my reading challenge.

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Jun 19, 2012 Moira rated it 4 of 5 stars

Scrawl was a good book, with good intentions. I feel like if it was meant to be a more serious and less of a Young Adult, laid-back and humorous novel, it wouldn't have been half as good, because the author wasn't that amazing at capturing the lower-class family of Pops. You got the whole idea of the crappy life that he was living; with an unhappy and uninvolved mother and her rude boyfriend, but you didn't get the idea that Pops had a huge problem with it. In fact, he might have been humorous a...more

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Jan 19, 2011 Jan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: teenbooks, contemporary

When eighth-grade school bully Tod and his friends get caught committing a crime on school property, his penalty--staying after school and writing in a journal under the eye of the school guidance counsellor--reveals aspects of himself that he prefers to keep hidden.

I liked the fact that Tod was not a stereotypical bully in many ways. The stereotype of bullies is a thuggish oaf with no brains, but this bully is very smart. You can relate to Tod and understand that he is a thinking, feeling perso...more

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title link	preview: Scrawl
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Scrawl

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