Mindi Scott - все книги по циклам и сериям | Книги по порядку

In a one-of-a-kind collaboration, seventeen of the most recognizable YA writers—including Shaun David Hutchinson, Neal and Brendan Shusterman, and Beth Revis—come together to share the viewpoints of a group of students affected by a school shooting.

It took only twenty-two minutes for Kirby Matheson to exit his car, march onto the school grounds, enter the gymnasium, and open fire, killing six and injuring five others.

But this isn’t a story about the shooting itself. This isn’t about recounting that one unforgettable day.

This is about one boy—who had friends, enjoyed reading, playing saxophone in the band, and had never been in trouble before—became a monster capable of entering his school with a loaded gun and firing bullets at his classmates.

Each chapter is told from a different victim’s viewpoint, giving insight into who Kirby was and who he’d become. Some are sweet, some are dark; some are seemingly unrelated, about fights or first kisses or late-night parties. This is a book told from multiple perspectives—with one character and one event drawing them all together—by some of YA’s most recognizable names.

Scott's well-crafted debut reads like a John Hughes–style romantic comedy filtered through a study of teenage grieving. Despite the booze-influenced death of his friend Isaac, high school junior Seth McCoy has continued his partying ways, drinking to excess and getting high with his brother and their rockabilly band. When he finally attempts to stay sober (upsetting his brother in the process), he finds that he now has crippling stage fright. Seth meets Rosetta--a sweet, mysterious girl who is also coping with grief--at a party and is drawn to her, even as he attempts to deal with family and school issues. Subplots involving Seth's former trailer park neighbor, Kendall, and Seth's new band enrich the story, but it's the awkward courtship between Seth and Rosetta that forms the meat of the novel. Scott stumbles a bit--Rosetta epitomizes the "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" archetype (even her name suggests that she's more of a device to help Seth better understand himself)--but Seth's slow discovery of his own potential keeps the story moving and entertaining.