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    Give a Boy a Gun
    Give a Boy a Gun
    Give a Boy a Gun
    Audiobook3 hours

    Give a Boy a Gun

    Written by Todd Strasser

    Narrated by Jack Garrett, Johnny Heller, Carine Montbertrand and

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A heartbreaking novel that offers no easy answers, Give a Boy a Gun addresses the growing problem of school violence. Although it is a work of fiction, it could tragically be the leading nightly news story in any community. After a high school shooting at her alma mater, a college journalism student returns home to interview students, teachers, parents, and friends of the suspects. Intermingled with her interviews are journal entries written by the two troubled boys responsible for the shooting. Their journals chronicle years of systematic abuse at the hands of their classmates and follow the boys' frustration and pain as they turn to rage. Give a Boy a Gun explores every angle and raises tough questions about peer bullying, gun control and accountability. A full cast of narrators' voices add a dramatic reality to this provocative work.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateMay 22, 2009
    ISBN9781436188845
    Give a Boy a Gun
    Author

    Todd Strasser

    Todd Strasser has written many critically acclaimed novels for adults, teenagers, and children, including the award-winning Can’t Get There from Here, Give a Boy a Gun, Boot Camp, If I Grow Up, Famous, and How I Created My Perfect Prom Date, which became the Fox feature film Drive Me Crazy. Todd lives in a suburb of New York and speaks frequently at schools. Visit him at ToddStrasser.com.

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    Reviews for Give a Boy a Gun

    3.5/5

    220 ratings18 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Well told well written, I can't help feeling sick that I am glad to see more books on school shootings, from the survivors view instead of glorifying the shooters. I just wish the anti gun propaganda was left out. Law abiding gun owners are rarely the perpetrators....the lists provided in closings only backed this.
    • 4/5
      A word of warning…the book is disturbing on so many different levels. The reader has a hard time thinking of it as fiction since the scene has been repeated so many times in so many different cities and schools with the same tragic and heartbreaking results. To tell the story of two alienated and disaffected teenagers who become obsessed with guns and bombs and ultimately vow to exact revenge on all the students…faculty members…and administrators at their school…the author employees many voices to reflect the incomplete narrative that inevitably emerges from tragedies such as these Parts of the narrative go into “preachy” homilies about bullying and tolerance vs. intolerance, but it’s hard to object when there are no easy solutions available. An unexpected and ironic development at the end of the violence highlights the complexity of the issue, and no one escapes a part of the blame. The author rightly acknowledges that we are all culpable to some extant…as we sometimes come across as a culture that values violence over empathy.
    • 4/5
      Definitely consider your sensitivities before reading this one as it is challenging subject matter. Fictional witness accounts of two teenagers who plan an attack on their school intermix with non-fiction gun violence statistics and snippets from shooting cases. It’s a harrowing combination of fact and fiction, sad and frustrating, so yeah, not a particularly enjoyable read, but thoughtfully done. The format works really well in that it covers several angles of the story and gives voice to many points of view. You get a sense of who these two fictional boys were and possible contributing factors to their warped thought processes, they’re humanized to a degree though the narrative does not condone or justify their actions. Some of the victims, the ones who were originally the bullies, don’t come off quite as dimensional as they maybe could have, though I don’t know, perhaps that’s part of the point, if there’s a refusal to acknowledge that something needs to change, things won’t change.
    • 4/5
      As part of a collection of books I'm reading for a book-talk I'll be doing later this year, I read this book. It was an interesting format, I thought: snippets of interviews from various people (on both "sides") after a school shooting. This particular book is a work of fiction geared for youth, maybe grades 5-8 or higher.... While the author does comment that it's difficult, writing such a book for youth, he also admits that the need for such a book has arisen, after all the incidents that have occurred in recent years. (And this book was written back in the year 2000.) He concedes that it's sad to have to think that our children will need to be reading this sort of subject matter, that they'll need to be prepared for what to do in an active shooter situation.

      One thing I often found disturbing about this book, simply because it interrupted the flow of the story a bit, was that at the bottom of nearly every page, there were quotes from newspapers following other school shootings, there were facts regarding the amount of gun sales, there were bits from interviews with gun manufacturers, etc. They were from real-life, where the actual story was clearly fiction. It probably couldn't have been done any other way--I just found it to interfere with my reading at times. However, I also appreciated that those little factoids were available, as I hadn't known many of them prior to reading this. Some of the information that is out there for any of us to access, if we'll only do so, is jaw-dropping!

      I have to mention, I really appreciated the clarity of the point of view of the shooters. Obviously, they were never actually interviewed, because they'd both shot themselves. However, they'd both left suicide notes, and they'd both had close enough friends who knew their stance on certain views. What I found especially interesting was that much of what the shooters felt were the same things I had felt when I was in school--I still feel those things today, as a parent. Clearly, I never took a gun to school and shot people because of those feelings. My point is that the way these kids were treated and made to feel... those are NOT even remotely uncommon. People are treated this way every day in every town and city, and they are made to feel *less than* every single day. And it hurts. And it sucks. And I still get angry and heartbroken when I think about it. And I don't see an end in sight....
    • 4/5
      I have had this book on my reading list for quite awhile, but it pushed it's way to the top after the most recent school shooting. Although, it is a fictional accounting of a high school shooting laid out in the voices of all those affected and who had a hand in bubbling the incident to take place. The book provides ample points for discussion: second amendment, gun safety, mental health, bullies, blame and responsibility. The author also takes the time to provide statistics about gun violence, specifically the ones that have happened in schools. The author makes a point upfront that he his very much against guns, but tries to make the case that violence against children is a thing of present day, as a reader of history that is a bit of a stretch. The only difference with the past and the present is the means of which news is out there and the many ways it is conveyed. The author at the end of the book admits to not having the answer and that the issue of gun violence is not a black and white issue. He subscribes to outlawing semi automatic and high capacity guns and only allowing the sale of semi automatic handguns to law enforcement or military. He also subscribes to a zero tolerance policy for teasing. Very brief mention of the mental health issue. Now I need to find and read up on the other side of this issue.
    • 4/5
      This is essentially a novel for young teens about bullying and gun violence, in particular the school shooting phenomenon. Its moral is perhaps a little simplistic and obvious to an adult, especially so long after it was first written, but the evolution of the two boys at the centre of the story has played itself out so many times in the intervening years that it still rings all too true. It's clear that the novel has used genuine incidents to formulate the story, with Strasser including footnotes to show where specific details echo real-life cases. If this makes even one kid stop and think differently about how they treat others around them, then that's got to be worth something.
    • 4/5
      This book is about two students who are in high school, Brendan and Gary. They have been teased harassed and abused for nearly all there lives. Finally one day, the two students decided that they have had enough of being being pushed around and decided to take action. Both of them had a strong interest in guns and making bombs, and one night, at a school dance in the gym, Brendan and Gary chose the descision to put their knowledge to use, and seek revenge...Be careful when reading this book, becuase once you start, you won't stop until you have finished. It is a real page turner, and a gripping read. While reading this book, I could picture/see the story as I read it in my head. This book has been writen in a very unique way; it is a first person book, although it has been writen for different peoples point of view of the story. E.g. :Jhon (Garys teacher):He tried to cheat off his friends during the test... I cought him.James (Garys friend):I let him cheat off me, since he did give me the answers to our last test... But then the teacher cought him.This book my be a little confusing to younger readers, and I believe that it would be a better read for children aged 12 & up.This is a great book, and once you read it, you will always remember it, forever. I read it last week in one night, not able to put it down, and the books ending left me amazed. I still remember how it ended, and even now, I look back at it, and wonder, who will be the next lucky person to read this book?Who will be the next person, to see the world differently, and have their life, changed, forever...?
    • 3/5
      Didn't really hold me. Characters all sound pretty much the same. Footnotes are out of date (hardly the book's fault; I'm sure they were current on publication 12 years ago). I can see some teens being really grabbed by this, but it's not what I'm looking for right now.
    • 4/5
      A tale all too chillingly real in current school environments.Two young men, Brendan and Gary are victims of teasing and physical bullying by members of the 'in' group (the jocks on the football team). Unable and unwilling to endure any more abuse they approach teachers and others to get some help to end the harassment. Unfortunately, they are told 'it's in their genes' and 'boys will be boys'.The boys decide to take matters into their own hands and develop a plan of retribution to gain their revenge on the assailants and others who just refuse to get involved. Eerily similar to the incidents at Columbine, this story reads as a wake up call to what happens in school environments. Teachers and administrators, parents and police share responsibility and a share of the blame of the tragedy. The book also contains many statistics about guns and gun control and also resources for help or information to those seeking it.I'm so grateful that this happened only in a book. Let's make this required reading in middle and high school environments and try to abort any possibility of similar events ever happening again.
    • 2/5
      More of a psychological look at the minds of two boys commiting a school violence crime, than a mystery
    • 4/5
      Earnest, if somewhat dispassionate, look at the issue of violence in schools. Loosely based upon the Columbine shootings, Brendan and Gary, long bullied and ignored, open fire at a school dance. Strasser does an admirable job of presenting all sides of the story and includes factoids and references for further study. (Most alarming to this reader was the indifference of the Columbine counselors.)
    • 4/5
      Give a Boy a Gun tells the story of a Columbine-like school shooting. Gary and Brendan had suffered through years of bullying and abuse from classmates, were ignored by teachers and school staff, and considered themselves outcasts. They lash out during a school dance, locking the gym and taking everyone there as hostages. The book examines these events, as well as the years that led up to that night, by interviewing all the other characters about Gary and Brendan's childhoods and time in junior high and high school. This was a tough read and I think it's an important one. Throughout the story, Strasser includes footnotes that list statistics about school violence, guns, and bullying. These are not obtrusive, and I thought they enhanced the story, further cementing it in reality. What I liked best about Give a Boy a Gun is that it presents multiple sides of most of the issues - no one group is clearly in the right. Not all of the football players are jerks and Brendan and Gary aren't glorified for their actions. Teachers that are seen by some as uncaring jerks get to express their own feelings and show their struggle with how to operate in the school. There are issues, though, where the author makes his opinion very clear (gun control, specifically). This book is an excellent way to start discussions on school violence, bullying, and guns.
    • 5/5
      I have read several novels about school shootings and this is by far the best and most thought-provoking. Written after the Columbine shootings, it is told mainly from the perspective of two boys who are constantly bullied and dream up a way to get their revenge. In footnote style, Strasser adds statistics and news reports relating to real-life episodes of school violence.I read this book to a class of freshmen and they were spellbound. As we read, we were also able to have some profound discussions about the causes of this type of violence and how we are all responsible for making school a place where everyone feels safe.
    • 3/5
      I'm not sure how I feel about the format of this novel. I opened it thinking it was a novel, but the author handled the documentary-style format well enough that I became convinced it was an account of a real shooting. And I was horrified -- not so much at the murderous boys, but at the teachers and administrators at their school. I've seen movies and stuff about high schools where football is valued more highly than education, but this seemed really extreme. I simply couldn't believe how callous some of the teachers were about the favoritism given to the athletes, and the abuse heaped on the rest of the students. But then, about halfway through, enough improbabilities mounted up that I doublechecked the story and discovered it was fiction. So... now I'm not sure what to believe. I'm inclined to think the football stuff is really not representative of the real world. And a lot of stress is put on the idea that the boys were deliberately seeking out popular kids and hated teachers as targets... but if this is at all based on Columbine, my understanding is that's a misrepresentation. I've read elsewhere that there really was no rhyme or reason to the victims at Columbine -- the boys wanted everyone, not just athletes or popular kids or people who had harassed them. So then it began to feel like the author was just making up facts to support her case. And to some degree, that's always the way in fiction, but I wonder if the rules change a bit when you are dealing with such an emotionally charged issue in such a pseudo-journalistic way. Then it starts to seem a little cheap -- because I know that she has a point she wants to make about gun control and bullying and whatnot. But she has built a book for the purpose of supporting her point. If she had wanted to, she could have created a story that put the blame for school violence on the lollypops the nurse was handing out -- there are no rules in fiction, after all.
    • 4/5
      Events leading up to a night of terror at a high school dance are told from the point of view of various people involved.
    • 5/5
      Wow! Everyone should read this book
    • 5/5
      It was a good book and there was a lot of action and i thought it had a good ending.
    • 3/5
      Although not easy reading, this book brings attention to an important issue that absolutely must be addressed, school violence. As a secondary school teacher and a parent of a teen, I would promote the reading of this book to raise awareness of the importance of not only weapons control, but emotional and psychological issues facing people.