Give a Boy a Gun

The name of this book is “Give a Boy a Gun” by Todd Strasser.  This book is fiction, but could be based on a true story.  This book is about teenagers bullying other teenagers at school.  I would bet this happens at many schools in the country.  A big difference is that this story ends with the victims getting their revenge on the bullies by committing horrible acts of violence.  Strasser has also written books called “Can’t get There From Here”, “Boot Camp”, “If IGrew Up”, and “Famous”.  I can’t compare these books to “Give a Boy a Gun” because this is the first book I have read by Strasser.  The writing style made it kind of hard to follow the story.  It was written in diary form.  There were entries from all the different characters in the book.  The way this book was written reminded me of “Freedom Writers”.

The two main characters in the story are Brendan Lawlor and Gary Searle.  They both attend Middletown High School.  Brendan just moved to this town and Gary has been there since he was born.  The one thing they have in common is that they are bullied by the jocks.  The jocks constantly call them “fags” and other bad names.  As time goes on the bullying gets worse and their anger builds up.  They become depressed and start using drugs.  They also start collecting guns and other illegal things.  Gary is good at science and is able to build a bomb.  The story ends with Brendan and Gary going to a school dance with guns and bombs.  They rigged the doors with bombs so that they would explode when the doors were opened.  Their plan is to get revenge on the jocks.  They end up deciding to shoot the knee caps of the quarterback so he could never play football again.  The story ends with both Brendan and Gary committing suicide. 

Even though the writing style made it hard to follow the story, I still liked the book.  This book really made me think about what I say to other people and how my words can affect others.  I have called friends rude names before, but it was done in a joking manner.  This book made me realize that words can hurt.  It is hard to imagine that someone could be bullied so much that they would take it that far.  I would recommend this book to other people.         

Book Review by Nick B.