Battle Ground — After a schoolwide reading project, students, parents and staff members at Chief Umtuch Middle School got a visit from the author whose book on bullying was at the center of the mass reading assignment.
“The Revealers” author Doug Wilhelm, who spoke at the school on Nov. 7, said the idea for the novel grew, in part, from his own experiences of being bullied in middle school.
During a session with sixth-graders, Wilhelm showed the students a tape recorder he used for researching the story.
Before writing about a bully pouring a container of soda pop on the head of a fully dressed, smaller youngster, Wilhelm said he got into his bathtub fully clothed and poured a large soft drink over himself. As he did, he recorded his feelings about the experience. Before and while writing the passage, he said he played the recording to himself.
