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A review by rachelmcg2004
Activist: A Story of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Shooting by Lauren Elizabeth Hogg
4.0
This is such a hard book to rate and review, especially in light of yesterday's great tragedy.
First, the positive. My own heart and soul were greatly moved by Lauren's story. I adored seeing her mother train her up to become the amazing activist she now is, and her relationship with her brother is one I wish my brother and I could have had. And her father taking the time out of his (precious) sleep schedule to bake cookies with his daughter, showing her that she is far more precious. This laid the groundwork for her amazing breakthrough and fight in order to claim justice for her Heart and Soul, both of which had been crushed when that demonic shooter filled them with bullets.
And now, the harder part of this review:
While Lauren's story really resonated with me for the most part, she and I disagree on the issue of gun control. I believe that if we make the procurement and use of firearms unequivocally illegal, the mentally ill people who commit the despicable and vile acts of shooting up a school will just obtain those firearms on a (naturally booming) black market. Banning firearms is not the solution, promoting human decency and kindness is the solution. As someone with a strong sense of justice who wishes with all my heart that I could just bring those children back to their parents, those teachers back to their families, it fills me with ire that these shootings keep happening. SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE - we must think, however, before we go diving into action.
The latter half of the book - where the students felt betrayed by the adults who had been unable to protect them from this issue - tore me in two. On the one hand, what they're sharing is valid. It was the responsibility of the leaders of this country to do whatever they could to ensure that a monstrosity like this evil day would never happen and would never happen again (something they have grossly failed in YET AGAIN), but at the same time, there was no way anyone could see this coming. The minds of these troubled criminal shooters are often hid behind masks of indifference and isolation, and often people are so caught up in life they fail to notice the warning signs. This is wrong, but it also a fact of life. Excruciating as it is to admit, we cannot prevent every school shooting. We cannot. I wish with every fibre of my being that we could, but we can't.
I feel like no matter how many words I use, I cannot make up for this injustice, nor can I make up for yesterday's Texas mass shooting. But I can offer the words of comfort that there is a God in this world, and though there is nothing we humans can ever do to get back those loved ones, they are far safer now than they ever have been on earth. This is no comfort to some, and for that, I am deeply sorrowful. But it is true.
Yesterday, May 24th, 2022, is a day that will forever live in infamy. A cruel and unusual act has occurred at Robb Elementary School, an act which can never be reversed or undone. My heart aches in sorrow for this unspeakably evil occurrence, and the abhorrently evil one that was the focus of this book.
A must read for all sorting through the current events of today.
First, the positive. My own heart and soul were greatly moved by Lauren's story. I adored seeing her mother train her up to become the amazing activist she now is, and her relationship with her brother is one I wish my brother and I could have had. And her father taking the time out of his (precious) sleep schedule to bake cookies with his daughter, showing her that she is far more precious. This laid the groundwork for her amazing breakthrough and fight in order to claim justice for her Heart and Soul, both of which had been crushed when that demonic shooter filled them with bullets.
And now, the harder part of this review:
While Lauren's story really resonated with me for the most part, she and I disagree on the issue of gun control. I believe that if we make the procurement and use of firearms unequivocally illegal, the mentally ill people who commit the despicable and vile acts of shooting up a school will just obtain those firearms on a (naturally booming) black market. Banning firearms is not the solution, promoting human decency and kindness is the solution. As someone with a strong sense of justice who wishes with all my heart that I could just bring those children back to their parents, those teachers back to their families, it fills me with ire that these shootings keep happening. SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE - we must think, however, before we go diving into action.
The latter half of the book - where the students felt betrayed by the adults who had been unable to protect them from this issue - tore me in two. On the one hand, what they're sharing is valid. It was the responsibility of the leaders of this country to do whatever they could to ensure that a monstrosity like this evil day would never happen and would never happen again (something they have grossly failed in YET AGAIN), but at the same time, there was no way anyone could see this coming. The minds of these troubled criminal shooters are often hid behind masks of indifference and isolation, and often people are so caught up in life they fail to notice the warning signs. This is wrong, but it also a fact of life. Excruciating as it is to admit, we cannot prevent every school shooting. We cannot. I wish with every fibre of my being that we could, but we can't.
I feel like no matter how many words I use, I cannot make up for this injustice, nor can I make up for yesterday's Texas mass shooting. But I can offer the words of comfort that there is a God in this world, and though there is nothing we humans can ever do to get back those loved ones, they are far safer now than they ever have been on earth. This is no comfort to some, and for that, I am deeply sorrowful. But it is true.
Yesterday, May 24th, 2022, is a day that will forever live in infamy. A cruel and unusual act has occurred at Robb Elementary School, an act which can never be reversed or undone. My heart aches in sorrow for this unspeakably evil occurrence, and the abhorrently evil one that was the focus of this book.
A must read for all sorting through the current events of today.