People Kill People
By Lucinda Dyer,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Dark, gritty story tackles gun violence, white supremacy.
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What you will—and won't—find in this book.
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What's the Story?
PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE begins with an unnamed narrator asking readers if they've ever had the desire to really hurt someone. The answer is yes, believes the narrator, because violence lives inside each of us, just waiting for a moment in time that will set it off. He sets out to prove his case using the stories of six Tucson teens, one of whom will buy a gun that will kill someone by the novel's end. Rand is 19 and married Cami, his high school girlfriend, after she got pregnant. Rand wants revenge against the man who sexually abused him as a kid. Cami does a bit of drug dealing when she runs short of money. Silas is the captain of the high school football team and a secret white supremacist. He hates his father for leaving his mother to live with his Latina girlfriend and is outraged that his mother has a Jewish boyfriend. Ashlyn, whose father murdered her mother, is also a white supremacist. Daniel, whose mother has been deported to Honduras, seems mild-mannered but has deep-seated anger that can turn into rages. He's terrified of losing his girlfriend, Grace. Noelle is Cami's sister and Grace's best friend. She has seizures after being shot in a road rage incident and is secretly in love with Grace. As the story unfolds, the narrator explores each teen's life, revealing how each has a possible motive -- racism, revenge, jealousy, fear -- for murder.
Is It Any Good?
The lives of six troubled teen characters make for a chilling and disturbing novel that takes on serious and timely issues around gun violence, racism, and immigration. The relationship of the teens in People Kill People is so hard to keep track of (Daniel's half-brother is Tim, who's friends with Silas, who's stalking Daniel's girlfriend, Grace, who's the sometime best friend of Noelle, who's the sister of Rand's wife, Cami) that readers may want to take notes in order to keep everyone straight. While the revelation of the killer at the end is shocking, many readers may also find it makes for an unsatisfying conclusion to the story.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about why the narrator of People Kill People believes almost anyone is capable of violence toward others. Do you agree with the narrator that, under the right circumstances, even people you know and love might commit a violent act?
How difficult is it to buy a gun in your community? Do you think the current gun law is too lenient or too strict? If you were writing new gun laws for your community, what changes would you make?
Silas had two identities: one as captain of the high school football team and a secret life as a white supremacist. How difficult do you think it would be to keep a secret like that in your school? What would the reaction be if a popular and respected student was revealed to be a racist?
Book Details
- Author: Ellen Hopkins
- Genre: Contemporary Fiction
- Topics: Book Characters
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: McElderry Books
- Publication date: September 4, 2018
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 14 - 18
- Number of pages: 428
- Available on: Nook, Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: August 13, 2018
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