by Todd Strasser
Simon & Schuster
2012 (new paperback edition)
224 pages
Riveting, terrifying, and tragically true, the statistics used in this haunting new ya novel should scare everyone living in America. Every day, thousands of students are bullied in our schools, and every day, some kid might snap. What happens when enough is finally enough? And what can be done to prevent it?
Ask the kids who were at Columbine. Ask the kids who attend Chardon High School in Ohio where on February 27, 2012, a student wounded five other students, three of whom later died. These are not isolated examples. Strasser includes facts and statistics from various sources as footnotes to the story of Ryan, Brendon, and Gary, three friends who are not popular or athletes at their high school. They are not the "in" crowd, and they dread coming to school every day.
This fact comes from Rolling Stone, 6/10/99: "In 1996, handguns alone killed 15 people in Japan, 30 in Great Britain, 106 in Canada, and 9,390 in the United States." It illustates the growing gun problem in America. Our teens know how easy it is to obtain a weapon. According to one statistic, 12% of American students have seen another student with a gun at school.
The three boys are constantly bullied and harrassed on a daily basis. Teachers do nothing to stop it other than say to the popular kids, "Hey, guys, cut it out." There is no back-up and no consequences. Gary chooses to fight back. Gary grows increasingly darker and practices with video shooting games, even buying a gun from another student. It is his descent into vile hatred and blind rage that carries the story.
Readers know that nothing but tragedy can come from Gary's actions, yet he is like a wounded animal himself. The daily barrage of tiny abuses multiply and grow exponentially in his mind.
This is not a feel-good story. It's a story that one hopes will make people pay attention to the facts that weaker people get bullied and they can only take so much.
Recommmeded for teens who like realistic fiction with an edge. Grades 9-up. Language, violence, guns.
FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.
I have the 2002 edition of Strasser's Give a Boy a Gun sitting on my shelf. The cover is exactly the same (except for the text of the author's name). It must be a re-release instead of a new novel :)
ReplyDeleteI was about to ask the same thing? Is this a re-release with all of the same stats or has it been updated? The 2002 edition is well received at our school so I would be interested in purchasing the 2012 if it has been updated.
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