Bookworm: I Just Finished... Shooter, Killing England, and Between Shades of Gray (October 2017)

Shooter by Caroline Pignat

A modern, more intense version of The Breakfast Club, Shooter alternates in perspective between four students with seemingly nothing in common who find themselves together in the school’s washroom during a lockdown. When it becomes apparent that it’s not a drill, tensions rise, causing the best and worst of each of them to bubble to the surface. Still, they must band together to get through the ordeal alive. What I liked best about Shooter is that two of the characters are on the autism spectrum (one high functioning, one not). Pignat did an amazing job capturing their points of view, educating readers while they feverishly flip the pages. Shooter was initially recommended to me by a student, and I would suggest it as an addition to pretty much anybody’s reading list.

Killing England by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard

My feelings about Bill O’Reilly are eh… I don’t hate him, but I don’t love him either. However, as I’ve mentioned before, I do enjoy the Killing series. Killing England was another solid installment. My students study this time period in depth, and I have been to DC with them ten times, so I felt pretty knowledgeable going into this read. Still, there were lots of lesser known details revealed, and I felt like I walked away knowing so much more than I thought possible. The narrative style kept me engaged, and, love the author or not, Killing England was well-researched. I’d recommend it to those who enjoy history, even reluctantly. And, obviously, those who want to know more about our fight for independence.

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

It’s PSAT day at school. All electronics must be shut off, so no e-book. What’s a girl to do? Turn to her students of course. One of my favorite “reader girls” recommended Between Shades of Gray (nothing to do with Fifty Shades…). I started reading and could not put the book down. I read 250 pages the first day and finished it the next. This historical fiction novel focuses on the often forgotten story of the Baltic cleansing, a World War II era movement by the Russians that literally wiped Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania off the map for fifty years. This particular narrative tells the story of Lina, a young girl whose Lithuanian home is invaded and whose family is taken prisoner. They are transported via train to a Siberian labor camp where they endure countless tortures. Despite it being heartbreaking, I loved this book. The characters were well-developed, the plot was engaging, and it felt good becoming more aware of a tragic event in our world’s history, particularly one often forgotten (as it occurred at the same time as Hitler’s rise to power in Germany). I’d highly recommend Between Shades of Gray, marketed as young adult, to anybody. It was an awesome read.