Los Alamos native Adam Bruckner’s new children’s book that depicts characters based on Donald Trump as a bully and Hillary Clinton as a liar is meant to help children understand this year’s election and promote informed voting.

courtesy Buy this photo Courtesy Adam Bruckner, right, with his editor, friend and student, Angel Williams. Williams helped Bruckner edit “Bully Back,” Bruckner’s book based on this year’s presidential elections. The cover, seen in the top photo, may be redone, Bruckner said. Courtesy Buy this photo

The book has also changed the way some people think about the presidential candidates, he said.

Called “Bully Back,” the book follows the twists and turns of an elementary school election, where candidates “Ronald Triumph” and “Beverly Linton” are running neck-in-neck for school president.

Throughout the book, Bruckner dissects the assumptions students have made about the two candidates and turns them into lessons about bullying and how to stop being a bully.

“It’s personalized the candidates in a way that kids can understand,” said Bruckner, who now lives and works in Philadelphia.

“Bully Back” is the second book by Bruckner based on bullying. His first book was called “Better Bullying.” In that book he focused on understanding the bully.

Bruckner was inspired to write his first book about bullying while mentoring two siblings enrolled in a youth program he manages.

Bruckner was born in Los Alamos and lived in White Rock until he was around 7. He played soccer in college and professionally in Detroit and Philadelphia.

Once the Philadelphia team disbanded, Bruckner remained in Philadelphia, where he began working at a 111-year-old “Helping Hands” Mission. The mission is funded solely through community donations, and provides assistance to homeless, veterans and foster children.

Bruckner serves as the mission’s youth director. The mission is located in one of the nation’s toughest urban neighborhoods.

When the race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump began heating up, someone mentioned the issue to Bruckner.

“When the election came up, somebody suggested that there’s a lot of talk about bullying in the campaign and it might make an interesting second book,” Bruckner said.

In “Bully Back,” Bruckner explores the issue of bullying, as he did in the first book, using Triumph and Linton as examples of Trump and Clinton.

Many of the ideas in “Bully Back” came from discussions Bruckner would have with his youth group about the election. The students that helped write “Better Bullying” also edited “Bully Back.”

“I really wanted the kids to try and understand the process, so I asked the kids about what they thought about each of the candidates, and their answers were probably predictable in what you’d think in what they’d say. I’d then ask them why they thought that,” Bruckner said.

Bruckner was then able to use those discussions to challenge the preconceptions of his own students about the candidates.

“The kids would say Donald Trump is a bully. I would say what’s different about that than what you do? He’s trying to do what he believes in a way that’s considered bullying, and aren’t you doing the same thing? If you don’t like that about him, then maybe you need to be a little self reflective,” Bruckner said.

He then told his kids that maybe it’s not a good idea to fight fire with fire.

“If we think Trump is an angry person, let’s not respond to him in anger. If we think Hillary is a liar, let’s make sure we don’t spread lies about her that are then spread around on Facebook posts and things,” Bruckner said.

One surprise Bruckner noted was reactions from the neighborhood residents where the mission is based on Trump’s comments about America’s inner cities being places of “no hope.”

“It’s pretty interesting because I thought that when Trump said ‘what have you got to lose’ to black people living in urban America, I thought his campaign was over. I was surprised because there was definitely a sentiment there that said ‘you know what, he’s right.’ I was really surprised by that. But, the general sense from the inner city community is ‘he’s a racist,’” Bruckner said.

“Then, if you ask them to explain why he’s a racist against, they’ll say he hates blacks and Mexicans, and then I’ll say how do you know he hates blacks and Mexicans?”

When Bruckner took one of the youths that inspired him to write the first book, “Better Bullying,” to a Trump rally, the youth was dead set against Trump.

“It was really interesting and awkward, but he came away saying he understood Trump better. He told me that he wouldn’t necessarily vote for Trump if he was 18 (the youth is a freshman in high school) but his dislike for Trump went from being really significant to small. He actually liked some of the things he had to say,” Bruckner said.

The book has changed him in some ways as well. Not that he was a physical bully, but as an adult he said he’s started to examine whether he exploits people’s emotions to get his point across like some of the characters in his book, he said.

“I’ve learned a lot about bullying in general,” Bruckner said. “The psychology of why people do some of these things, why sometimes when someone feels powerless they will try and come across as powerful, and when they lack control they will try and have control. I think it’s helped me deal with kids who are bullied and the kids who are the bully. It’s important not to forget about the bully. We can help these kids change. We’re working with children, but we’re really working with future adults.”

Growing up, Bruckner learned the value of helping others from his parents. His father still lives in Los Alamos.

“Mom was a physical therapist. I saw her working with people in need, and my dad has always been kind to the homeless people he’s met, and I think those things made a lasting impression on me,” Bruckner said. “When I came out to Philadelphia, I wanted to help out a bit. To those who much is given, much is expected. I was influenced by both the good and the bad in my life.”

If residents are interested in getting a copy of the book they can go online to bullyback.net. If they want to find out more about Bruckner and the Helping Hands Mission, they can log onto helpinghandphilly.org.