I Never Knew Your Name By Sherry Garland Illustrated by Bryan Langdo

I found this book to be a really big wakeup call to society. It seems like in the news more and more often there is another teen suicide that has one way or another been connected to bullying. In this book, the narrator watches his neighbor until the day that they find his body. People walk by and say what a shame, but no one seems to ask why it happened. This book takes the major issue of suicide and tells it through the eyes of a child. Although we might not like to think about it, suicide does happen, it needs to be addressed, and it does affect children.

As a teacher, I think that under the right circumstances I would use this book, followed with a discussion to be sure no one is left frightened or confused. It is important as a teacher to understand that any student might be affected by suicide, and so to have a book on hand that addresses this topic could be useful and is important to have. If something like death or suicide does become an issue that needs to be addressed this book would be a good place to start a discussion. Also talking about the narrator’s sister who made fun of the boy who dies would be important. Having students look at the issue of bullying and the major affect it has on some people’s lives might be a hard topic to have, but it will benefit them in the end.