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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
Give a Boy a Gun tells the story of a Columbine-like school shooting. Gary and Brendan had suffered through years of bullying and abuse from classmates, were ignored by teachers and school staff, and considered themselves outcasts. They lash out during a school dance, locking the gym and taking everyone there as hostages. The book examines these events, as well as the years that led up to that night, by interviewing all the other characters about Gary and Brendan's childhoods and time in junior high and high school.
This was a tough read and I think it's an important one. Throughout the story, Strasser includes footnotes that list statistics about school violence, guns, and bullying. These are not obtrusive, and I thought they enhanced the story, further cementing it in reality. What I liked best about Give a Boy a Gun is that it presents multiple sides of most of the issues - no one group is clearly in the right. Not all of the football players are jerks and Brendan and Gary aren't glorified for their actions. Teachers that are seen by some as uncaring jerks get to express their own feelings and show their struggle with how to operate in the school. There are issues, though, where the author makes his opinion very clear (gun control, specifically). This book is an excellent way to start discussions on school violence, bullying, and guns.
This was a tough read and I think it's an important one. Throughout the story, Strasser includes footnotes that list statistics about school violence, guns, and bullying. These are not obtrusive, and I thought they enhanced the story, further cementing it in reality. What I liked best about Give a Boy a Gun is that it presents multiple sides of most of the issues - no one group is clearly in the right. Not all of the football players are jerks and Brendan and Gary aren't glorified for their actions. Teachers that are seen by some as uncaring jerks get to express their own feelings and show their struggle with how to operate in the school. There are issues, though, where the author makes his opinion very clear (gun control, specifically). This book is an excellent way to start discussions on school violence, bullying, and guns.
dark
informative
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There was one thing about this book that irritated me from the beginning: it's a stereotypical school shooting story. The main characters are bullied by jocks, they spend a lot of time on their computers, they come from broken families, and (easily the biggest thing to irk me) they played a lot of video games. Yeah, a lot of these characteristics are common in school shooters, but that doesn't mean they're the triggering facts. Listening to Marilyn Manson (don't get me started on that one) or playing video games does not, in my opinion, make someone want to kill everyone in their school. I think it might sometimes trigger it, but to me that means the person initially has a mental deficiency and cannot separate reality from fantasy. Maybe it's because this book was written shortly after and based on the events of Columbine, but I found it very stereotypical/entirely unoriginal.
One of the other biggest things was how the story was written. The book is filled of testimonies of people who grew up with/knew the shooters or where in the room when everything happened. You never really get close to any of the characters because there are too many to remember.
And even though there is a character who dated one of the boys and she tells what it's like to be mistreated and bullied in high school, it's still very stereotypical. In a sense, I felt that the author personally looked down on students who were bullied and were the cause of these types of massacres, and because of that, he wasn't interested in learning what it was like for them. So he wrote about them getting called "faggot" and skipping school and doing drugs, because to him, that was what all of these types of kids did. He carried no interest in learning about their home lives or psychological disorders most have been diagnosed with.
Instead, he turned this into a story about the jocks (because of course, the only type of bullying to exist is that between jocks and nerds). He showed how they were treated like kings in high school, and I think that's where he tried a little bit to show what it was like for the underdogs, but he did a terrible job with it. Also, I wasn't happy to read about some fictional characters bragging about how it wasn't their fault they were so good at football. But that's what 99% of this book focused on.
I was hesitant going into this book, because while I find documentaries about true life crime interesting (hellooo fascination with serial killers), I know that when most authors try to show both sides of a story, it never winds up pretty. In fact, this book was rather ugly.
One of the other biggest things was how the story was written. The book is filled of testimonies of people who grew up with/knew the shooters or where in the room when everything happened. You never really get close to any of the characters because there are too many to remember.
And even though there is a character who dated one of the boys and she tells what it's like to be mistreated and bullied in high school, it's still very stereotypical. In a sense, I felt that the author personally looked down on students who were bullied and were the cause of these types of massacres, and because of that, he wasn't interested in learning what it was like for them. So he wrote about them getting called "faggot" and skipping school and doing drugs, because to him, that was what all of these types of kids did. He carried no interest in learning about their home lives or psychological disorders most have been diagnosed with.
Instead, he turned this into a story about the jocks (because of course, the only type of bullying to exist is that between jocks and nerds). He showed how they were treated like kings in high school, and I think that's where he tried a little bit to show what it was like for the underdogs, but he did a terrible job with it. Also, I wasn't happy to read about some fictional characters bragging about how it wasn't their fault they were so good at football. But that's what 99% of this book focused on.
I was hesitant going into this book, because while I find documentaries about true life crime interesting (hellooo fascination with serial killers), I know that when most authors try to show both sides of a story, it never winds up pretty. In fact, this book was rather ugly.
I liked the mix of fiction/statistics. I liked the journalistic feel- lots of 'interviews' with various people mixed with journal entries/chats/etc of the shooters. It was a unique read, in that sense. Every now and then I would run across a painfully cliche phrase and I would feel as if I were watching a bad after school special for a bit, but overall it was a decent read. A bit short, but it gives a nice well rounded view in a unique way.
I have read several novels about school shootings and this is by far the best and most thought-provoking. Written after the Columbine shootings, it is told mainly from the perspective of two boys who are constantly bullied and dream up a way to get their revenge. In footnote style, Strasser adds statistics and news reports relating to real-life episodes of school violence.
I read this book to a class of freshmen and they were spellbound. As we read, we were also able to have some profound discussions about the causes of this type of violence and how we are all responsible for making school a place where everyone feels safe.
I read this book to a class of freshmen and they were spellbound. As we read, we were also able to have some profound discussions about the causes of this type of violence and how we are all responsible for making school a place where everyone feels safe.
This is an important book about school shootings. I appreciated the way the author had real articles and info about shootings at the bottom of the pages. I think the subject was dealt with realistically and the book kept my interest without having to be morbid. Well done.
An important book to read. A fictional telling of a school shooting told from multiple perspectives. Very chilling and haunting. The story is accompanied by statistics on gun violence which only adds greater weight.