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Taking Aim

Power and Pain, Teens and Guns

ebook
2 of 2 copies available
2 of 2 copies available

Powerful, riveting, and real. Sixteen celebrated authors bring us raw, insightful stories that explore guns and teens in a fiction collection that is thought provoking and emotionally gripping. For fans of Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock and Give a Boy a Gun, and with an array of YA talent like the late great Walter Dean Myers, the poetic Joyce Carol Oates, the prophetic Elizabeth Wein, and the gritty Chris Crutcher, these are evocative voices that each has a different perspective to give. Capturing the hurt and the healing, victims and perpetrators, these stories get to the heart of the matter.

From a boy whose low self-esteem is impacted when a gun comes into his possession to a student recalling a senseless tragedy that befell a favorite teacher, from a realistic look at hunting to a provocative look at a family that defies stereotypes, each emotional story stirs the debate to new levels. The juxtaposition of guns and their consequences offers moving tales, each a reminder of how crucial the question of guns in our society is, and the impact they have on all of us.

Other acclaimed contributors are Marc Aronson, Edward Averett, Francesca Lia Block, Alex Flinn, Gregory Galloway, Jenny Hubbard, Peter Johnson, Ron Koertge, Chris Lynch, Eric Shanower, Will Weaver, and Tim Wynne-Jones.

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    • School Library Journal

      June 1, 2015

      Gr 9 Up-An essay on guns in America by three award-winning authors sets the stage for 13 short stories from an impressive list of writers including Chris Lynch, Francesca Lia Block, and Walter Dean Myers. Ron Koertge's "The Bodyguard: A Fable" offers an unusual perspective on hunting, Myers's "Roach" explores the feeling of power that guns bring to the powerless, while Elizabeth E. Wein's "The Battle of Elphinloan" is about coming face to face with the enemy during war. Standout contributions are Alex Flinn's "Fight or Flight" about preparing for the unexpected, and Jenny Hubbard's heart-breaking "The Babysitters" about a little girl lost too soon and those who remember her. The common themes of power and pain are nicely woven throughout the collection, and the stories cover a wide variety of gun-related topics, though it is unfortunate that Myers's contribution is the sole representation of the urban experience. VERDICT This well-themed collection contains many well-executed stories and is sure to catch the eye of the many teens fascinated by the topic.-Elizabeth Saxton, Tiffin, OH

      Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      July 1, 2015
      Grades 9-12 This short story collection explores one of our America's most hot-button issues: guns. A brief introduction by the editor and a prologue by Marc Aronson, Will Weaver, and Chris Crutcher prime readers for the stories to come, which span the numerous ways that guns affect teen lives across the country, in both urban and rural settings. Gregory Galloway writes of teens on a backwoods hunting trip contemplating shooting each other for the stories it'll allow them to tell. Alex Flinn follows a girl embarrassed by her dad's gun-nut friend, until the zombie apocalypse makes her rethink things. Francesca Lia Block shows an elementary teacher faced with a reptile expert unexpectedly wielding a gun. In a wordless comic, Eric Shanower provides an interpretation of what goes wrong when Eros trades in his bow and arrow for more powerful, modern weaponry. As a collection, this anthology functions less as an evaluation of whether guns are good or bad but, rather, as an incisive glimpse at how guns function, both symbolically and literally, in contemporary society. Sobering and thought-provoking.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

    • Kirkus

      June 15, 2015
      Editor Cart has gathered a collection of 13 short stories and three brief essays dealing with the often negative combination of teens and guns. Most of the authors are well-known. After accidentally ending up with a handgun, Walter Dean Myers' somewhat troubled teen protagonist murders a drug dealer then goes into business for himself-turned criminal by the gun, a message repeated by Peter Johnson. Tim Wynne-Jones' teen uses a handgun to scare off a relentless bully, but another, mentally unstable teen gets the gun next-with evil intentions. Eric Shanower uses a series of ironic wordless cartoon panels to depict what Eros, god of love, does with increasingly serious weaponry. Francesca Lia Block has an unarmed elementary school teacher use only her sensitive language to disarm a potential school shooter. In Joyce Carol Oates' overlong tale, a homely, jealous girl "accidentally" shoots her attractive sister's love interest with her stepfather's handgun. A much-needed humorous counterpoint by Ron Koertge portrays a pair of glib deer hiring a man to defend them against hunters. With few rather neutral exceptions, the message is solidly anti-gun, with many stories sharing a common theme: without an available gun, this crime wouldn't have happened. All of the tales are insightful, but the message is never especially subtle. Well-done and thoughtful but relentless in pounding home a needed admonition. (Anthology. 12-18)

      COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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