March LC mothly review

Walter Dean Myers, author of the Michael L. Printz Award-winning MONSTER and many other acclaimed children's books, has done it again. Told from multiple perspectives in the aftermath of a high school shooting, Myers's latest effort SHOOTER tells the haunting story of three misfit teens.

Through a many interviews, newspaper clippings and the diary of a very troubled teen, the story unfolds. The reader learns about the shooter, Leonard, through in-depth interviews with his best friend Cameron and his ex-girlfriend Carla. Conducted by a school psychologist, an FBI agent, a threat analysis specialist and the town sheriff, the meetings demonstrate the different voices of the characters and reveal the teens' angst and desire to belong to a group.

Leonard assumes the role of leader with his friends. He introduces them to guns and brings them to the Patriots' target shooting club. Cameron and Carla are so needy for companionship that they don't see how disturbed Leonard truly is. They don't know the extent of his inner demons until it is too late. Leonard shows up at school one day with his guns and goes on a shooting spree, killing Brad, a jock and source of constant torment, and then himself.

SHOOTER is a story that uncovers the pain of several high school students. It explores the tragedies of school violence and how the result of bullying can go to the most dramatic extreme. Myers has a gift for expressing the voices of his characters. Through every word, pause and breath in these interviews, we gather understanding. The excerpt from Leonard's diary, or as he calls it, "die-ary," lolz reveals the twisted mind of the force behind the event.

The book Shooter by Walter Dean Myers is fantastic absolutely fantastic. The way its written is so much better than a normal book. Normal books are written so bland and have no flavor but the way Walter Dean Myers writes it has lots of spices. He writes it in a script format meaning, all talk so its like your right where the characters are.

Example-pg 1

RE( Richard Ewings): Do you mind if I call you Cameron?

CP( Cameron Porter): Fine

RE: Cameron, can we begin by telling something about yourself? Where do you live? Who do you live with? That sort of thing?

CP: Sure, I live on Jewtt Avenue. I live with my mom/ Elizabeth and my father.

During this page you can already tell that they are in a conference room and that Cameron is in a bit of trouble. To me its more intersting because it lets me imagine what the situation is like. For example i think that they are in a room with a one sided see through glass, and Richard is the good cop and that Cameron seems like a guy that dosen't like to do things and stays home or plays baseball with a pal. Thats my imagination for you.

Another thing i like about Myer's writing is that he includes little pictures of newspapers, and crime file reports.

I have skimmed through the book many times and he also switches writing like a script to a diary format. On page 169 it switches. The font changes from Times new Roman to some sort of high school handwriting.

I mean its not hard to read but its nice...(big fonts I live it)... It also changes from one story to another, on page 122 it changes to another story between William Beach Mosley and Cameron
Porter, I mean it dosen't change story but it changes the characters. It also adds characters like Victoria Lash.

I think that one of the symbols i have noticed in this book is racism. The main character is an African American boy. It also had alot about different religions as well for example on page 80
(they are talking about a gun show)

"VL: Going back to Ordo Saggitae. There was some mention that no Jew were allowed in the organization. Is that correct?"Later Cameron comments on it by saying that his friend Len had nothing to do with Jews although many people in his school made weird remarks about them.

And to clarify my last blog the newspaper strip titles were "Madison High Shooting Spree" I'm just going to summarize the articles so that you guys can be caught up. So basically the tragic shooting took place at Madison High (obviously) and the two students were killed by gunfire the police think that it is a murder and a suicide. One of the identified bodies is a 17 year old male named Brad Williams. Another weird thing is that the newspapers also stated that the shooting was from a cult which it obviously isn't. The most funniest thing i read was from the article titled "Leonard Gray and Cameron Porter Named as Shooters in Madison Case" Several students said that the cult to which Gray is said to belong in is influenced by a number of underground rock groups. By the way Leonard was the person who committed suicide.

I don't know why but how come in all stories like shootings always have the smart people dead? It said that Brad Williams had received scholarships to four different colleges according to the school's guidance counselor.

Overall I love this book, it was really well written, the format was perfect, and it was just a thrill to read. Although it didn't really give information. It was just a story and i like information documentary books better. Thats why i am choosing to read a brief history of time. It has all that i love, it has The Big Bang Theory and more.