My book review is on How To Handle a Bully by Nancy Wilcox Richards. There are several main characters in the book. They are Rilla, Cameron, Olivia, Oliver, Lauren, and Nicholas. The book is about Rilla, her friends, and enemies. Rilla and her friends are training at the playground to win a new Xtreme bike in a fitness competition. Cameron and his gang, Olivia and Oliver, bully Rilla, Lauren, and Nicholas. Cameron and his gang hog all the playground equipment. If Rilla and her friends can’t train on the playground equipment, they won’t be able to improve and win the fitness challenge. The book takes place at Rilla’s school and the playground near her house in the springtime.

Kids learned about the fitness challenge at school. There were a lot of events at the fitness challenge including monkey bars, pull-ups, tire run and bike riding. Rilla did not know how to ride a bike without training wheels. Training wheels were not allowed at the challenge. Rilla was very scared of riding a bike without training wheels because the last time she tried, she fell and hurt herself. Lauren and Nicholas convinced Rilla that they could teach her to ride a two wheel bike. Rilla decided to be brave and try. By the fitness challenge, Rilla could do it! Rilla had another big challenge. Cameron and his gang bullied Rilla and her friends and scared them away from the playground. It was hard to train when they were scared away from the playground equipment. One day Rilla and her friends were riding by the playground. They saw that Cameron was alone and stuck. Rilla knew this was her chance to get back at Cameron and she took advantage of it. The next day Rilla, Lauren,  and Nicholas went to the park with more of their friends in case Cameron was there. When Cameron told Rilla and her friends to get lost, Rilla stood up to him. Cameron and his gang decided to leave the playground when they saw all of Rilla’s friends. This was important because Rilla wasn’t scared anymore. She believed she could win the fitness challenge.

Rilla is a really nice and fair girl. Instead of trying to scare Cameron and his friends away from the playground, she told them that they should share the equipment. In parts of the book, Rilla was really scared. She was afraid of riding a bike without training wheels and she was also afraid of being bullied by Cameron and his gang. Rilla showed that she was confident too. She was the best in her class at doing pull-ups and was one of the fastest kids on the monkey bars. One quote that really shows who Rilla is, is “I’d love to win that bike. But you know, I don’t really care who wins, as long as it’s not a River Rat.” The River Rats are Cameron and his gang. This quote shows who Rilla is as a person because she says that she doesn’t care who wins. She would be happy for anyone who wins as long as they are nice.

I loved this book because it’s a cute story about a group of kids trying to win a fitness challenge. This book is an awesome book for kids in third and fourth grade to read. How To Handle A Bully is a good book for people who like sports and for anyone who’s had an experience with bullies. I would recommend this book because anyone can read and enjoy it. Also, it’s a good book for schools and students because it teaches kids important lessons about bullying. I haven’t read any other books or seen shows that have bullying. I would give this book a five star rating.