ARC Review: That's Not What Happened by Kody Keplinger

Book info:

Title:  That's Not What Happened
Author:  Kody Keplinger
Genre:  YA Contemporary
Release Date:  August 28th, 2018
Publisher:  Scholastic
Source:  ARC received from publisher at ALA 2018 Annual Convention which did not influence my opinion in any way
My rating:  5 stars

Synopsis:
It's been three years since the Virgil County High School Massacre. Three years since my best friend, Sarah, was killed in a bathroom stall during the mass shooting. Everyone knows Sarah's story--that she died proclaiming her faith. 

But it's not true. 

I know because I was with her when she died. I didn't say anything then, and people got hurt because of it. Now Sarah's parents are publishing a book about her, so this might be my last chance to set the record straight . . . but I'm not the only survivor with a story to tell about what did--and didn't--happen that day. 

Except Sarah's martyrdom is important to a lot of people, people who don't take kindly to what I'm trying to do. And the more I learn, the less certain I am about what's right. I don't know what will be worse: the guilt of staying silent or the consequences of speaking up . . .

My Review:
I don't know what it is, whether it is because I am a school librarian, used to be a teacher, etc., or what, but I am drawn to YA books about school shootings.  I like that the majority of them tend to have something unique about them, something besides just telling what is a horrible story like the news would.  I've read stories where we get to know the shooter.  I've read stories about the siblings of the shooters.  This book had two things that I really liked. First, I like that not once did they actually say the name of the shooter.  One thing the character said they did not want to do was give that person any more attention or recognition.  The other thing that I really liked about this was the whole theme or maybe you'd say its plot.  I like that this book was looking at what really happened.  Not the stories that get passed on to the media, by people who don't know what actually happened, or mistake what happened for something more inspiring or selfless than it may actually have been.  

I always enjoy hearing the "real" story about historical events or people.  You know, the things left out of textbooks, the things that don't sound good, or the things that would mess up everyone's love of a person or event if it was told.  Those are the things that make people or events seem real to me.  And this book does exactly that.  It makes the people who survived real.  Not saints, not SURVIVORS, but just real people, real kids.  Even if one of the stories could possibly ruin another person's epiphany they had that caused them to change their life and be happier ever since the shooting.  Even if one of the stories makes the person who has to tell it worried others won't look at him the same, that they'll see him as a coward instead of the hero that the original story makes him out to be.  

The book makes you think though, in the end, with a girl who has passed away, is it such a good thing to ruin the image that her family and countless others in the community may have now taken as something that can be salvaged from such a horrible event?  I don't know.  That's a hard one.  But you have to also think about if that image, that story, has ruined the life of someone else who tried to tell the truth of that situation.  In that case, it might have been good thing to not let the wrong story take on quite the life that it did.  

Of course there are similarities to the real school shootings that have occurred.  But I don't feel that the author meant in any way to call into question those real people.  I think she was just giving examples that would make the story seem real.  

This was an intense story, a sad story, and even an inspirational story in its own way.  One I recommend and will purchase for my school library.

One last thing, I have to share the picture of me with the author when I met her and got my copy of the book at the ALA convention this summer.

 

YA Review: Aftermath by Kelley Armstrong

Book info:

Title:  Aftermath
Author:  Kelley Armstrong
Genre:  YA contemporary thriller
Release Date:  May 22nd, 2018
Publisher:  Crown Books for Young Readers - Random House Children's Books
Source:  Physical ARC from publisher which had no influence on my opinion
My rating:  5 stars

Synopsis:
Three years after losing her brother Luka in a school shooting, Skye Gilchrist is moving home. But there's no sympathy for Skye and her family because Luka wasn't a victim; he was a shooter. 

Jesse Mandal knows all too well that the scars of the past don't heal easily. The shooting cost Jesse his brother and his best friend--Skye. 

Ripped apart by tragedy, Jesse and Skye can't resist reopening the mysteries of their past. But old wounds hide darker secrets. And the closer Skye and Jesse get to the truth of what happened that day, the closer they get to a new killer.

My Review:
Once again Armstrong has proven to me that she is an expert at writing a page-turner in any genre.  Personally I've only read her young adult books, but I've yet to find one that wasn't a winner.  This one is another 5 star read for me.  While the main subject of the story has to do with a school shooting, that isn't what the story is.  We got parts of the story from both Skye and Jesse's viewpoints, although only Skye's chapters were told in first person, Jesses's chapters were third person, and there were not as many chapters for him.  Both of them did the usual misunderstanding of the other's signals and reactions.  But when you got the story of the night that Jesse went by Skye's house right after the shooting, you really understood what Skye had been thinking, even if it had been a misunderstanding.  

The way the author set the story up, you are definitely given lots of clues and hints, but still kept guessing the entire way.  I like that.  Even though I get pretty turned around, I like being kept on my toes as I read, and not being able to figure it out right away.  I like that even though you get the bullies like you'd expect, and the people who are still really upset, totally understandably, from losing family in the school shooting, you also get people who understand that it wasn't the sister's fault.  I like that there were some points that are similar to real-life incidents.  The boy who came out of the bathroom with the gun, but as far as anyone knew he may not have actually shot anyone. And what if they'd been able to get help to her brother before he died, maybe a lot of the information about the reasons behind the shooting would have been found out.  I like that it is pointed out how sometimes the kids who are really talked about after a shooting tend to be the sports hero, the popular kid, and maybe, just maybe, they weren't as great of people as they are made out to be. Maybe they had their own problems. But maybe even with those problems, there is a point where it is realized that in that situation, everyone is human, and scared, and you must overlook what they may or may not have done.  

Really I liked the characters, the good guys, the bad guys, the bullies, and the adults.    This book was not really on my radar until the publisher reached out to me, but just like with the last book I read by Armstrong, I know I've got to make sure it is available for the students at my high school.
 

ARC Review: Butterfly Suicide by Mary Ann Loesch

Book info:

Title:  Butterfly Suicide
Author:  Mary Ann Loesch
Genre:  YA Contemporary/Romance
Release Date:  July 11th, 2017
Publisher:  Independent
Source:  Pump Up Your Book! Virtual Book Publicity Tours for an honest review
My rating:  5 stars

Synopsis:
Butterfly suicide.

The blood on the cafeteria floor has been washed away and the bullet holes plastered over, but those words carved deeply into the back of the worn auditorium chair will always be a reminder for the students of Rockingham High School of what happened there last May. For Stephen Valley, the brother of infamous school shooter Jude Valley, that day is one he will never be allowed to forget—especially since the small town blames him for the loss of the seven students killed in Jude’s rampage. Unfortunately, poverty has a firm grip on his mother’s finances, imprisoning him in the bigoted town with no options to leave.

Monica Monroe, a self proclaimed Theatre Nerd, hates being known only as the sister of Jude Valley’s murdered girlfriend, Simone. Even though she’s never believed Jude killed her sister over a lover’s quarrel, she does blames herself for not seeing what a monster he was. When she is partnered with Stephen for an acting scene in Theatre class, Monica views this as an opportunity to finally get some answers. Being paired with Stephen proves to be dangerous for her emotional well being and her heart. When he is beaten up for being on her street, Monica realizes his life after the actions of Jude has been as traumatic as her own.

Drawn together by tragedy, the two stumble across a shattering secret which threatens to ruin their blossoming romance and destroy their families.

My Review:
I put this book off based on the date I had to have it read by, but once I started reading, it was another really hard to put down story.  The topic itself was very emotional, a school shooting.  Only in this story, the shooter was unable to kill himself, and is now locked away.  But his younger brother is still stuck going to the same school where all of this happened, starting his freshman year there.  Not only that, but the younger sister of one of the victims is starting her freshman year there as well.  

Stephen and Monica have known each other for a long time.  Not only was Jude, Stephen's brother who was the shooter, dating Simone, Monica's older sister who he killed during his rampage, but they've gone to school together for a long time, it's a small town.  Turns out both of them have kind of had a crush on the other one ever since a science class lab in 7th grade.  

Stephen goes to school not expecting any goodness, his own neighbors have signs up condemning his brother and his family.  Monica goes to school, not feeling the same hatred for Stephen as it seems everyone else does, and everyone expects her to have.  You see, she knows Stephen is not his brother, he is different, and she can tell.  And she wants to give him a chance.  Unfortunately, not everyone else does, and they plan to take up for her, beating Stephen up and making his life miserable.  

I like that the story is told from both of their points of view, alternating chapters from Monica and Stephen.  We get to see that things with Jude aren't the usual cut and dried school shooter story.  It's not just a case of being bullied and getting back at everyone.  No, there's always been something wrong with Jude. Something Stephen and his mother have lived with their whole life.  And while Monica's family may look like the perfect family - before the death of Simone - some things will come to life that will throw her life into even more of a mess, worse than the loss of her older sister.

I liked the little connection of the drama teacher.  I liked getting the emotions of someone on each side, and having them seem to be able to separate people.  The twists on some of the details of the whole original incident  were very original and not always ones you saw coming.  I liked that.

Definitely a story about a school shooting that should be kept up there with Hate List by Jennifer Brown and This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp.   

Review: This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

First I have to say thanks to Sourcebooks for sending me an advanced readers copy of this book.  As a high school teacher books like this really hit home.  To think about these types of things, that aren't fantasy unfortunately. These type of things that cause heartache, and so many lives to be senselessly lost.  And as a teacher, sometimes the heartache comes from knowing all the things that happened that may have led up to the shooter feeling that was all they had left to do.  This story touches on that somewhat, but also touches on the issue of the people who do these things having a mental illness.  I think it is a great way to look at all the different aspects that take place in this kind of a story.

The story is told through four different students' viewpoints.  At first this was a little difficult for me, but only when I was trying to remember between two of the girls and which boy was their brother.  The two girls I'm talking about are Autumn and Sylv.  Autumn is the sister of the shooter, Tyler.  Sylv has a twin brother named Tomas.  We get the story told from Autumn's, Sylv's, Tomas', and also a girl named Claire's viewpoints.  As you would expect in a story like this, each of them has their own connection to the shooter, and each of them wonders if they could have been part of the cause, or if there was any way they could have known to stop it. 

Autumn and Tyler lost their mother.  Since then, their father turned abusive.  And for the most part, Tyler would protect Autumn. But sometimes he didn't. And it was the change in Tyler's behavior that should have sent more of a red flag up for Autumn.  Autumn and Sylv, well they are kind of together.  Not in public necessarily, but they both do have feelings for the other.  Tyler doesn't like it, and even goes so far as to threaten Autumn, and while it's never quite spelled out exactly what, he has done even worse to her. We begin the story with them going to the big assembly that the principal does at the start of every new semester.

Tomas has had an issue with Tyler recently, one that led to a fight.  He also will do what he can to protect his sister, except he hasn't gone as far from that as Tyler has.  Tomas is a prankster, and when we first meet him, he is with his friend Fareed, in the principal's office during the back to school assembly. A time when they know everyone will be out of the office, and they can look at some records they want to know about.

The fourth person, Claire, is actually who we start with. She is out practice running for track.  Claire is an JROTC member it seems. She is running around the track with her best friend, a guy named Chris.  We find out that Claire's connection to Tyler has to do with dating him at one time. 

All of the story is told bit by bit, as things unfold in the assembly, where Tyler has locked the doors and blocked all of the students from leaving.  He doesn't just shoot and run.  He commands attention, he talks to the students, and shoots them, some for reasons in the past, others just to prove his points. 

Tomas who is not in the assembly will have to do what he can to try to save those who were there and are in danger.  Claire who is outside, will also hear the shots, and head to a local gas station to try to get help sent. 

The story is terrifying, to read what he says as he holds them all hostage.  The way that killing the students, teachers, etc., none of it seems to phase him as what it really is.  Then, the students who die, and you hope beyond hope that they will make it out, that help will arrive in time to save them, it just really breaks your heart when they don't make it.  It makes you think about what would you do in that sort of situation. Would you put yourself in front of a friend or loved one in order to save them?  Or would you try to help them hide with you, and hope that you could keep them, and yourself, safe that way?

Really a deep thought book, intense, really hits hard.  I haven't read one that has really struck me as much as Hate List by Jennifer Brown, until now.

Review: And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard

First of all, thanks to Delacorte Press and Edelweiss for allowing me to read an e-galley of this title.  I just finished reading it the day before it was published, also the day it would expire.  It was a quick read.  At first I was worried that it was going to suffer in comparison to another school shooting book, The Hate List by Jennifer Brown.  But as I really got to reading it, I began to see how it was its own type of story, and truly, it wasn't really a school shooting story, although that is kind of what it is made out to be in the blurb on Goodreads.  

This story is told as we follow Emily Beam.  Her boyfriend is the one who brought the gun to school.  Only he ended up only shooting himself, and no one other than Emily ever had the gun pointed at them.  Emily had been pregnant, and while she knew she didn't want to have a baby at her age, Paul was excited and happy about it.  They'd said they loved each other, but with this hanging over her head, Emily now wasn't sure about what the future would bring.  Her parents took her away to Boston after all the tragedy, and she got into a boarding school.  The town is where Emily Dickinson was from, and like Dickinson, Emily Beam is also a poet.  And that is the one thing that really made this book its own story, in such an original and unique way.  We get to read the poems all through the story, and they paint such a vivid picture of Emily's feelings, the things that happened before the story started, and how her world is changing.  I could totally see, as a former teacher, how this could be used in a classroom.

As I said before, I was afraid I'd be disappointed as I began, but turned out it was a really great story, and the prose portion was just such an extra perk, making the story even more complete and real.  There is one quote I loved, it is Emily's roommate and friend K.T. who is talking to Emily about God, or really about whether things make you a bad person.
 "If God made us in His image, then maybe we have a right to play God when we can't find Him anywhere.  But we will find Him, eventually."
That is just so deep, and really made me think.  Hope you feel that way as well!

Gateway 20: Diary of a Witness by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Yet another male protagonist. Maybe I just saved all those, stupidly, for the last books I would read? So far a lot of the books are about nerds. In this case it is a boy, overweight, named Ernie, and his best friend Will. They get picked on and beat up by the jocks in their school. The story is told from Ernie's viewpoint as if he is writing in a journal that his Uncle Max, who is a writer, gave him and asked him to write in.

Both boys like to fish. At the beginning of the book, Will has convinced Ernie to try it his way, out on the ocean. So they go out on Will's father's boat, with Will's younger brother Sam, who Will doesn't like, and the feeling is kind of mutual for Sam. Will's dad leaves them to go alone, while he goes to a bar to drink. A big wave comes up, and the boat tips over due to Will trying to get a big fish he has always wanted to get. Will and Ernie make it, Sam gets stuck under the boat, his pants caught on a fish hook, and drowns.

Will's father gets sent to jail, and we learn what a messed up life Will has. After some other bullying type issues happen at school, Will tries to kill himself. Ernie figures out something like this is happening and calls 911 to save him.

After Will gets out of the hospital, Ernie takes him up to stay at his Uncle Max's. This is a great time for Will, but as they get ready to go back home, back to Will's unhappy life, Will takes a turn for the worse. I like that Ernie is able to stand up to his friend, doing the right thing. I think this had a good message.

Well, I've been busy reading, and not had time to do much blogging. So I've got 2 more books to blog about later tonight if I have time. Trying to get the rest of the books done by December 1st.

Gateway 10: Hate List by Jennifer Brown

This was a really good book. It really hit hard on the school shooting topic. It also focused in on the bullying issue. The main thing that I really liked about this book, is how it takes place from the point of view of the shooter's girlfriend. The person who actually started the "hate list". The story follows her, Valerie, through going back to school the year after it happens. We get flashbacks to each moment as it happened in May. But we also get to see how the other students are dealing with it. We see how her family, which was actually screwed up to begin with, and possibly part of the reason the hate list started, is completely finished by this. I think a good point is to think of how this shooter was thought of by his fellow students before all this happened. How people had no idea he was going to do it. And how the very day it happened, Valerie had been bullied by her biggest antagonizer. The ending is very touching. I also like that it looks at how the principal of the school tries to say that all the students have all changed and become like a family and that there is no more bullying or treating other students poorly. Which is wrong. I think schools often try to cover things, or at least I think I can totally see this happening. There are things that have happened in my district, that I wonder how they never made the news, when around the same time, you hear about the same type of issue happening in other districts on the news.

Anyway, I am going to hopefully have that as my next staff rec at the book store. I was also extremely interested to learn that the author is a good friend of a friend that I teach with. With some of the bullying issues going on at my school currently, it might be good to have her come in and speak to the kids. I wish I could read this book with my students, I think they could really learn from it. But I'm guessing a school shooting book would not be considered appropriate to read to 8th graders.