Give a Boy a Gun - Hardcover

Strasser, Todd

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689811128 ISBN 13: 9780689811128

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2000

Synopsis

BANG! Gunshots echo through the gym. Two heavily armed students, Gary and Brendan, hold their classmates hostage at a high school dance. Their targets: the football players and teachers who have tormented them. Their weapons: semiautomatic rifles stolen from a neighbor. Their motive: revenge. In Give a Boy a Gun, the interweaving voices of students, teachers, friends, and the gunmen themselves re-create the harrowing crisis at Middletown High and the reasons behind Gary and Brendan's rampage. Mirroring the voices on each page are facts about guns and school violence that offer a blistering counterpoint to a tragedy that rings dreadfully true to life. A stunning work of fiction taken straight from today's headlines, Give a Boy a Gun is a stirring wake-up call to stop the violence and explore the role of guns in the lives of teenagers.

About this title

Review:

* "Both haunting and harrowing, the book deserves a wide readership, discussion and debate."--"Booklist, "starred review

"A disturbing and provocative novel."--"KLIATT "

"Vivid, distressing, and all too real...The multiple points of view create empathy for a wide range of characters and enhance the book's in-your-face reality. Important, insightful, and chilling."--"Kirkus Reviews"

About the Author:

Ever since his 1981 bestseller The Wave, based on a true incident in which a teacher conducted an experiment in peer pressure with his students, Todd Strasser has been concerned with problems of teenage stress and violence. With the recent rash of shootings in schools, he feels compelled once again to address these issues, as well as how the availability of guns can affect the emotional decisions of teens.

Strasser has written many award-winning novels for teenagers, including How I Changed My Life, How I Spent My Last Night on Earth, and Girl Gives Birth to Own Prom Date, which became the feature film Drive Me Crazy. A novelist for more than twenty-five years, Strasser speaks frequently at schools about the craft of writing, and conducts writing workshops for young people. He lives with his family in a suburb of New York City.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0689811128
• ISBN 13: 9780689811128
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 146