But it is also an articulate, well-rounded cross section of the many viewpoints on gun control, peer bullying, and the high school social order since the traumatic events that took place in Littleton, Colorado. Is this novel disturbing and at times difficult to read? Yes, of course it is. Could this tragedy have been prevented? Who, if anyone, is to blame?Ĭonsisting of short, related statements from students, parents, school administrators, and even the troubled shooters themselves, Give a Boy a Gun attempts to give a voice to the countless sides of the school violence issue. When it's all over, Sam Flach is alive (but without any hope of a future football career), Gary has killed himself, and Brendan is in a coma, after being beaten almost to death by other students who managed to disarm him. Armed with guns they've stolen from a neighbor's collection, Gary and Brendan storm a school dance, booby trap all the doors with homemade bombs, and prepare to turn their high school caste system upside down with a violent show of force. Day in and day out, for more than two years, they have been harassed, beaten up, and cursed out by most of the jocks at Middleton High-especially by football player Sam Flach. High school sophomores Gary Searle and Brendan Lawlor have had enough.
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