Give a Boy a Gun

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Intense school-shooting book will trigger heated discussion.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that kids will probably find this book about a school shooting hard to put down -- and even harder to forget. The subject matter is intense: the main characters are harassed, and later they plan an elaborate school shooting involving kidnapping, murders, guns, and bombs. That said, this is a book that will inspire a lot of discussion and introspection. The author helps kids think more deeply about both bullying and our gun culture, and provides facts about
real school shootings as well as statistics about guns and gun control and more. Common Sense Media's article "Talking to Kids About School Shootings" can help parents who think that their kids might be overwhelmed by these facts, or this story.

  • The author includes, at the foot of many of the pages, factoids about
    real school shootings, guns, efforts at gun control, and statistics
    about death and violence in our society. He concludes with a list of
    related events that took place while he was writing the book, a partial
    list of school shootings, and a bibliography. This book -- and this information -- could be useful to
    high school teachers and administrators looking to raise gun control
    awareness among students.
  • This intense story will make readers think about both the impact of bullying -- and America's gun culture. Parents can use the questions in our "Families Can Talk About" section to help their teens think more deeply about these topics.
  • The author is trying to make a connection between bullying and violence, but most of the main characters exhibit some of the worst behavior possible. The protagonists suffer through relentless bullying to the point that some readers may actually find themselves rooting for the shooters to succeed.
  • Shootings and beatings. Effects described in detail. Two teens capture students and teachers, shoot some, and mean to kill them all. From start to finish, humiliation, rage, and fear predominate.

What's the story?

High school students Gary Searle and Brendan Lawlor enter a school dance heavily armed with automatic weapons, having chained the doors shut and booby-trapped the exits with homemade bombs. They intend a carefully-planned payback against their schoolmates, mostly members of the football team, who have persecuted and tormented them for years. Using transcripts and interviews with survivors, this fictional story torn from the headlines chronicles events leading up to, during, and following the shootings. The author includes, at the foot of many of the pages, factoids about real school shootings, guns, efforts at gun control, and statistics about death and violence in our society. He concludes with a list of related events that took place while he was writing the book, a partial list of school shootings, and a bibliography. Part of the book's proceeds are donated to gun-control organizations.


Is it any good?

 

Author Todd Strasser does a frighteningly effective job of making his readers think -- about guns, bullying, and more -- and the result is one very disturbing book. Some of the ways it is disturbing are clearly intentional; others are less clear. Readers ready for the intense material will find a provocative and compelling novel certain to trigger much heated discussion. This book could be useful to high school teachers and administrators looking to raise gun control awareness among students.


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What families can talk about

  • Families can talk about how the fictional events described in this book mirror real-life school shootings that you've read about in the news or seen on television. What can we do to help prevent this kind of violence -- and also help bullied kids before they take such extreme measures?

  • What do you think of the author's use of facts and statistics? Do you think it adds to the story's importance -- or does it make it too much of a "message book"?


This review was written by Matt Berman
Teen, 15 years old
January 14, 2011
 
Great book.
Epic book. I cried when I finished it <3 What alot of parents won't get is, the authors purpose in writing the book was to prevent future school shootings. I mean, it was pretty obvious to me. I almost couldn't get my mom to buy the book for me because of the subject. The book had a lot of information and facts promoting further gun control and anti-bullying programs in schools at the bottom of each page. It is a tough subject to talk about, but ignoring it never helps.

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Adult
April 24, 2009
 
I LOVED THIS BOOK
OMG i had to read this book my freshman year in high school. and Now that im a jr in high school i get to read it again. and i LOVE IT. It just Means so much and the sad thing is.. I can see this happening at my school!

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Teen, 18 years old
April 14, 2009
 
I loved this book!!!
This book completely changed my overall perspective of how real it is when kids are pushed to the point of popping. I know how it feels to be pushed, but I never would think of attempting to kill my classmates. Strasser really took time to show his readers how people in our own world can treat kids, and teachers not do anything about it, when they see it and let it happen.

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Teen, 15 years old
April 26, 2009
 
They should have succeeded!
I read this book and I'm disappointed that they didn't succeed. They deserved good revenge for all those years of torture. But overall it was a great book and you should read it if you haven't already.

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Teen, 17 years old
November 9, 2010
 
i love this book beacuse it shows hom many kids get pick on in school to the ponit they kill them selves :(

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Parent of 16 year old
October 22, 2010
 
i lovee this book

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Teen, 14 years old
September 13, 2009
 
This book is ok for kids 13+ even though I am only 11
This book is beast. Everything is so vivid, so distressing, it makes you feel like you are in the story. There is merely a thing gap between this and reality. THe messages are positive and negative. It teaches kids that revenge is nessecary, but some kids might like to see the peril and blood.

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
Not as bad as it sounds,
I totally LOVED this book. It's about these boys that are toal outcasts. They get made fun of constantly and are finally sick of it. One of them owns a gun and decides to take action. They are very frustrated, as you get to be also by reading on. I reccommend this for kids over the age of 12.

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Teen, 17 years old
December 20, 2010
 
Intense
This book contains the true opinions of the people involved in a school shooting, and it comes on really strong. This tells the realities of school bullying, and it's important that some kids learn about these things. I feel very safe at my high school, so I don't believe I really needed to read this, esp. with the language and drug/alcohol content. I think it depends more on a teens' or tweens' backgrounds, for whether they should read this book. But I definitely think that no one under fifteen should be reading this silently or by themselves. Grab a parents, grab a teacher, grab a friend. Read it out loud. For someone already heading that direction, this book could seem to glamorize the shooting scene. I still don't know if I should have given this book a one or a five.

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
Disturbing is the word...
Yes, this book is definitely disturbing. Extreme violence because two kids get sick of being picked on. Also many references to drugs and alcohol, but it's alright for the audience it's written for. Mild swearing here and there.

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This review was written by Matt Berman
Author:Todd Strasser
Book type:Fiction
Genre:Coming of Age
Publisher:Simon & Schuster
Publication date:January 1, 2000
Number of pages:146
Publisher's recommended age(s):12 - 12

This review was written by Matt Berman
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

 

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