Posts Tagged 'shooting'

The Predicteds by Christine Seifert

Published November 26, 2012 RAC , Realistic Fiction Leave a Comment
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Genre:  Realistic Fiction

# of Pages:  340

RAC:  Yes

Daphne goes to a school where all of the students have been tested by a program called PROFILE.  This computer program measures the likelihood that someone could have violent or social problems in the future.  After a school shooting incident, the parents all demand that the results of these tests be released so that anyone who is “predicted” to be violent or otherwise abnormal can be removed from classes with their children.  Daphne’s mother was one of the scientists who helped create PROFILE and left the project because it went against her moral beliefs.  She strongly opposes revealing these results.  Then, a teenage girl is found beaten and left for dead after a big party and the accused culprit is Daphne’s boyfriend.  Could he be a predicted?  Could he be capable of something this violent?  Even if a person is predicted isn’t there a possibility they could change or choose not to act on their violent tendencies?

This story raises some interesting questions about how a test like this might affect the behavior of everyone involved.  However, the plot twists are fairly predictable and the plot itself moves slowly.  This could be good for classroom discussions about societal expectations and you could even draw comparisons to internment camps and the Holocuast, but it could be a difficult sell for students free reading.

Quad by C.G. Watson

Published September 30, 2010 Award Winners , Realistic Fiction 1 Comment
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Genre:  Realistic Fiction

# of Pages:  296

RAC Book:  No

This story focuses on high school students from different cliques being thrown together in fear as an unknown shooter begins to take out students in the quad.  The six students all have their fair share of insecurity and have battled in high school antics, but they have trouble deciding who they think has snapped and brought a gun to school.  As accusations and fears fly they all must evaluate their own behavior as well as the behavior of others in the school.  They quickly realize that more than one person has reason to bring a gun to school.  Will they survive this threat?

This is a very accurate portrayal of the different cliques present at most high schools.  Along with the cliques comes the cruel treatment and calculated bullying and insults.  While accurate, parts of this story are difficult to read and may bother some students.   Quad is not the best bullying book out there, but would work well in combination with others such as Hate List and Wish You Were Dead and would be interesting to reluctant readers.

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Published April 16, 2010 RAC , Realistic Fiction Leave a Comment
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Genre:  Realistic Fiction

# of Pages:  405 p.

RAC Book:  Yes

In this gripping novel, Valerie is shocked when her boyfriend, Nick, brings a gun to school and begins shooting students.  She tries to stop him, but ends up getting shot in the leg before he turns the gun on himself.  In the aftermath, a notebook is found at Nick’s house of a list of people the two of them kept whom they hated.  People were put on this list for a variety of reasons, but mainly because they bullied Nick or Valerie or encouraged it in some way.  As Valerie courageously returns to the school for her senior year, she must face the repercussions of Nick’s actions as some people blame her and believe she should be in jail.  Others seem to think she is a hero for trying to stop the shooting and want Valerie to move on, but can she forgive herself for not seeing this coming?

This story forces every reader to think hard about his or her actions.  Everyone knows what it feels like to be picked on in some way and can identify with Nick and Valerie, but at the same time must decide how bullying should be punished.  Also, this book asks us all to think about how bullying can be stopped in schools or if that is even possible.  Valerie’s psychiatrist asks her to look at things for what is there and not what appears to be there.  This is something we should all be a little better at, but unfortunately it is often difficult to see the reasons behind certain behaviors.  Highly recommended.

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