Permanent Record by Leslie Stella (review)

A slight build and an Iranian-American heritage make Badi Hessamizadeh the target of relentless bullying in his Chicago public school, and he turns his anger both outward in vandalism and inward in a suicide attempt before his parents decide to enroll him in a small private school. They think a name change to Bud Hess will keep him anonymous enough for a new start there, and it works until someone starts writing vaguely threatening letters to the school newspaper and fingers begin to point to him. His two fellow outcast friends, Nikki and Reggie, attempt to help him figure out who the real writer is, but others uncover his past, and bullying commences in his new school just as it had in his old one. Badi is frustrated; seized by panic attacks and depression, awkwardly crushing on Nikki, he decides it's just easier to become the terrorist they think he is. Although laced with ironic asides, laugh-out-loud humor, and wry reflections on high school life, Badi's narration takes us deep inside his anxiety, his hurt, and his rage, exploring the inner world of someone whose circumstances have negatively affected his mental health and yet have also enabled him to gain insights and perspectives that others miss. His path through rage and helplessness is a journey and he knows it, but he also knows how easy it is to turn that journey into a dead end. Readers will come away from this with a greater understanding of the effects that casual aggression and outright bullying can have on a fellow human being, as well as what makes for resilience and healing.