Riyani Patel
Takes on Bullies
by Jordan Rosenfeld / photos by Mike Sanchez
S
obrato High School senior Riyani Patel , age 17 , celebrated the launch of her second novel , The “ Terrible ” Bullies with a community event on October 2nd , at the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center , during October ’ s National Bullying Prevention Month .
The novel stars a trio of friends , protagonist Tanya and her friends Jake and Diamond , who are also the stars of her first novel , The Boy Battle . In The “ Terrible ” Bullies , the kids have moved on to high school , and are upset to discover that the bullying that made middle school challenging still takes place , though in different ways . Together , they deal with , confront , and ultimately evoke change in the bullies through open communication and honesty .
Both of Patel ’ s books take on the tough topic of bullying , in one form or another , because Patel herself has experienced it first hand .
Diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome as a child , she experienced significant bullying in middle school . “ The reason I chose my second book to be about bullying is that I was bullied in middle school for my uncontrollable motor and vocal tics and I didn ’ t want to see other people go through that . I don ’ t like to see people suffer . I don ’ t want anything bad to happen to people .”
Tanya , the star of both books , also has Tourette Syndrome just like she does , and Patel finds it empowering to write about a character like herself .
“ I feel like these issues are important to talk about . They happen likely every day , but no one speaks up about it ,” she said . “ I feel more people need to notice and speak up .”
Patel hopes that readers will come away from her book with three main messages . “ The first message is that the person who is being bullied can have the courage and strength to stand up for yourself ,” she said . “ You don ’ t have to be afraid of anyone .”
The second message is aimed at the person doing the bullying : “ Have the awareness to know that what you say or do is harming the other person and that ’ s not right . You want to be the better person .”
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