Destroying Avalon

Kate McCaffrey’s young adult novel Destroying Avalon (2006) deals with the fall out of cyberbullying. In 2007, it won first place in the Young Adult's Books category of the Western Australian Premier's Book Awards, was named a Notable Book by the Children’s Book Council of Australia, and won the West Australian Young Reader’ Book Award. In 2010, it was added to the Australian optional reading list for the New South Wales HSC English syllabus.

Fourteen-year-old Avalon is from rural Australia. She is happy at school, a successful athlete and academic with a large circle of friends. However, when Avalon’s mother gets a new job and the family moves to a suburb of Perth, Avalon has a difficult time making friends at her new high school.

The school is much larger than Avalon’s previous school, and she is intimidated by the sophisticated students who make her feel sheltered and provincial. A circle of unpopular students attempts to befriend her, but Avalon is embarrassed to be seen with them. Desperately trying to find a different peer group, she comes to the attention of a clique of popular girls who ensure that Avalon becomes an outcast.



Avalon receives an anonymous text message signed “A Friend” that directs her to a blog used by other students at her school. The members of the secret site use it to spread rumors and vicious gossip about other students. On the site, Avalon finds that students are building a campaign of hate against her. The users of the site post under pseudonyms, and two named “Metallica Guy” and “Dragon Girl” are especially mean to her. Avalon suspects that a popular girl named Alice is Dragon Girl, but she has no proof.

Avalon receives a barrage of cruel anonymous emails calling her names and spreading gossip about her. She turns to her friends in the unpopular clique; they are generally supportive, especially the friendly and helpful Sukey. However, Avalon still feels isolated and lonely, unable to talk to her parents or teachers about the abuse.

Avalon is harassed both at school and at home. Strange boys write her sexually explicit emails, directed to her by Dragon Girl. At school, students whom she does not even know bully her in the hallways. At home, Avalon withdraws from her family. She becomes obsessed with reading the hate mail about herself, spending hours online.



In spite of the hate campaign, Avalon continues trying to find a place where she fits in at school. She plans to try out for the hockey team but is warned off it by Sukey, who tells her that the team captain is Alice. Avalon’s friends keep telling her to stop looking at the bullying messages, but Avalon is unable to stop. The bullying takes a toll on her physically as she begins losing sleep and has constant headaches and body aches. A particularly vicious rumor involves Avalon’s younger sister, Ruby, who the bullies say is actually Avalon’s daughter.

After a few weeks, the bullying messages directed at Avalon begin to taper off. The bullies have turned their attention to Avalon’s friend Marshall, a kind and attractive boy who may be gay. The bullying directed at Marshall is even more severe, with a large number of the abusive emails threatening to kill him.

Several boys attack Marshall at school. Tamara, one of the members of Avalon’s friend group, retaliates, breaking one of the bully’s noses. The administration calls Avalon, Marshall, Tamara, and their friends to the office to get to the bottom of the fight. Marshall, who is terrified, of his parents finding out that he is being labeled as gay, swears Avalon and the others to silence about the bullying. Avalon is also worried about how her parents will react when they find out that she has been so miserable at her new school, so she agrees to keep quiet.



However, Avalon is so stressed from the past few weeks that she confesses to her parents. Her parents go to the school administration at once with the goal of exposing the real identities of the cyber bullies. Their efforts are too late, though. Marshall is attacked again on the way home from school. He commits suicide shortly afterward.

The police become involved, seizing the computers of a number of students. The identity of Dragon Girl is at last exposed. It is not the popular Alice as Avalon expected, but rather Sukey, the girl Avalon thought was her friend. Sukey, who was unpopular and picked on herself, was jealous of Avalon and started the campaign as a way to feel powerful.