Hardback. Picked up at work today.

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Read this book within 24 hours. As a high school teacher, I have thought what would I do to protect my students if a shooter came on campus.

This is solid writing and gives the reader one glimpse into the minds and lives of some young folks who wind up on the cutting room floor. Jodi deftly shows how its not always the ones you think will wind up in trouble that often get overlooked and in the process run adrift of the world, winding up in terrible circumstances that even the most vigilant parent may not see coming.

"They started it" are the words that seventeen-year-old Peter Houghton says when he is found after a school shooting spree huddling with a gun in his hand by Detective Patrick Ducharme. An outcast who had been bullied since kindergarten, Peter kills ten, including a teacher, and injures many more.
At first glance, it looks like a straightforward act of revenge, but things are revealed to be more complex. One of his victims is Matt Royston, the boyfriend of his former childhood friend, Josie Cormier, and others are members of the in-crowd, but others have seemingly no relation. In the days before the trial, and in the days leading up to the shooting, we are given the backstory, told mostly from Josie's, Peter's, and their mothers' viewpoint. This added to the story, in my opinion. We learn of the continual teasing this boy received, adults' unsuccessful attempts to help him fit in, and of the relationship between Josie and Matt.

I can still remember the ones who were picked on and made fun of when I went to school. One of the problems is that the students who bully are so good at not getting caught at their acts. I am on the alert. Most teachers know which students are bullied, it is catching the bullies.

During the trial, we hear from the victims who survived and the devastation the crime has wrought on their lives. In the end, the reader may still be undecided whether Peter is primarily a victim, perpetrator, loyal friend, or all three, but that is the point.

What this book has that others like it often don't is compassion not just for the bullying victims, but for the "in-crowd" as well. The end is a little odd, but not as jolting as the one in "My Sister's Keeper." I almost felt that the added twist near the ending was a plot device constructed to provide a "shocking" turn of events. It seemed a bit forced. While it may have been alluded to, it was not developed enough to be believable and therefore probably could have been eliminated for the sake of flow and consistency.

I believe Jodi did a lot research and I imagine that a story of this kind would be hard to tell. Though I found one fact wrong - to be considered mentally disabled (mentally retarted) needs to be an IQ BELOW 70. She has a student at 79 being considered mentally retarted, which isn't correct. Another thing I had difficulty with was the school allowing the student to sign themselves out. As a high school teacher, I don't know of a school that allows this especially for students under 18.

Overall, this was a tragic story and worth the read, especially for high school and junior high students who might not recognize the long term effects of their everyday actions. I can't quite express what it is about this book that made it less than the sum of its parts,

Enjoy!