Friel, Maeve. Charlie's story.

Friel, Maeve. Charlie's story. Peachtree, 1997 [1-56145-315-3]
Charlie is a girl is is living with her Uncle and his family ever since her unwed mother abandoned her in a shopping mall when at the age of 4. She is now is a suburban private school and she is not accepted. It gets worse when her fellow students find out she was abandoned. She is bullied viciously by the trendy girls at the school and the teachers either don't see it or ignore it because "girls don't do that." Life isn't very good at home either because everyone there totally ignores the whole story of how she was abandoned. This 121 page book shows how bullying can get out of hand if it is not checked. After a peak, the story resolves itself a little too neatly for my comfort but the story is a good read with a good message. It takes place in England so the reader has to deal with some "Britishisms."