Ramifications of a School Shooting

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

After I finished the book I was reading last night, I realized that, save for my Kindle, I was out of books to read. How did I let that happen? My Kindle is in my bedroom, and I didn't want to disturb my husband and one of the dogs to get it. So, I did the next logical thing: I went to my daughter's room to see if she had anything I hadn't read yet. She came through in fine style, despite trying to get me to read the Alice in Zombieland books. This was one of the three she loaned me.

I have read books by Jennifer Brown before. The first one of hers that I ever read was Thousand Words, which, if you read my blog post about it a couple of years ago, you know I think every teenager should read. My own has read it at least three times. Anyway, the point is, I knew this one would be good.

The story centers around Valerie. She and her boyfriend, Nick, had a hate list, which is exactly what it sounds like-a list of people they hated. For Valerie, it was more cathartic than anything else; she would put someone's name on the list if they hurt her or pissed her off in some way. For Nick, it was much more than that; it was a list of people to kill. Which is exactly what he did. He shot fellow students in the commons area of his high school. He shot a beloved teacher. He even shot Valerie before turning the gun on himself.

People thought that because Valerie helped make the list that she was in on the whole thing, but that wasn't the truth. Unfortunately, people will believe what they want to believe, what fits their agenda.

In the days after the shooting, Valerie finds herself in the hospital, recovering from her gunshot wound. Then, because everyone seems to think she is suicidal, she spends a couple of weeks in the psych ward. After that, she is released to her parents' care, and begins to see a psychiatrist. At the beginning of the next school year, Valerie goes back to her high school to try to move on with her life.

Things aren't so great for her. Her former friends want nothing to do with her. Those who were shot but didn't die didn't want to be in the same school with her. She becomes even more isolated than she ever was before. But then there is Jessica. Jessica was horrible to Valerie before the shooting. She was even on the hate list, but the day of the shooting, the bullet that hits Valerie is the bullet that was meant for Jessica.

Valerie has a hard time believing that circumstances changed Jessica. This is mainly because people still blame her--including her own parents. Valerie just has to make it through the school year, and then she can be away from all of this. Can she do it?

This book achieved something that seldom happens when I read--I cried. My heart ached for Valerie and all she went through. I think we forget that there are other victims of school shootings than those who are actually shot: the ones who loved the shooter and are left behind. This book shows that in a way that is real and relatable.

I highly recommend this one.