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Heaven is a powerful and disturbing book about bullying. It is also about endurance. There are some profound observations and an examination of what victims of bullying may be thinking. We also get a glimpse into the thinking of one of the bullies.

I always tell my students to look for the helpers and upstanders when witnessing or reading about horrible events. Sadly, there are no upstanders in this book. Two students that are being bullied find each other. They have several discussions about strength and weakness. How hurting and crying are different. These quotes are a good representation of the types of exchanges between the characters and one of their interpretations of the bullying.

“The other kids, the rest of our class, they don’t understand anything. They have no idea what anything means. They don’t know how they make other people feel, and they’ve never stopped to think about other people’s pain. They’re just following along, doing what everyone else is doing.�

“You think about how other people feel. You’re so kind. It makes sense. Because we’re always in pain, we know exactly what it means to hurt somebody else.�

Above all, my biggest take away from Heaven is the power of the spoken and written word, to heal and to harm. One person has the power to lift someone up (bring them closer to Heaven) or knock them down (make their life Hell). I loved that the characters correspond through letters. A lost, but powerful art. Letters are physical reminders that bring the reader back to a specific time/place and connect them to the writer. Rereading and looking at those letters can bring healing and light during times of darkness and isolation.

Heaven is hard to read because of the repeated, detailed episodes of bullying, but it is important to read on and bear witness, to feel discomfort and unease. For through this discomfort comes awareness and hopefully inspires a change in our world for the betterment of all.