The Gun

The Gun by Paul Langan

I think give this book a grade A, i give it an A because it makes you wait a long time for the climax in the story. I also think teenagers that are juniors and seniors would enjoy the book the most because when the Tyray thinks he's close in getting what he wants another bump comes in the road.

In this story the main character is a boy named Tyray and he's a Freshman at Bluford high school and everyone is scared of Tyray, but this dude name Darrell Mercer that just came to Bluford and changed all of that for Tyray. And now Tyray is being bullied and his rep has been destroyed. So Tyray thinks the only way he can get his rep back is by getting a gun and every time he's  close into getting it something comes up.

A character I like in the story is Tyray, i like him because of his attitude and toughness. He was smart and he told some good lies to that girl that liked him in the story, but Tyray needs to learn how to control his anger and stuff. I'm also glad he changed his ways. A character I dislike is his father, he always has a bad nasty attitude and he needs to learn to keep his hands to himself.

I think the ending of the story was good, but i think i would change it that his brother gets to come home and spend time with Tyray. If the book was to have a sequel i think his brother would come home, and help him out on whatever problems he's having at school and his dad would be kinder to Tyray. 

Book Review by Hollin H.

The Gun

I chose the book The Gun written by Paul Langan. I have read another book in his series. His series are about African American life. The series is called The Bluford Series. A few book titles are The Fallen, The Guy, and The Bully. This book could help you with real life situations. It can help you to stand up for yourself. I think the main message the author is trying to get across is that you can stand up for yourself also that you’re not the only one with feelings it try’s to show you that everyone wants to be treated well. I thought this book was good because of the lesson in the end of the book. It also shows how people can change for the good an even people who use violence first have a soft side and can be nice.

Tryray liked to solve his problems with violence. Tryray would steel money from other students, beat them, and mentally bully them. Tryray liked the feeling of being powerful. He had the reputation of being a bully. Darrel Mercer was the new kid Tryray started to bully. Darrel didn’t take the bulling and actually fought back and stood up for him. Tryray never had someone fight back, he though the only way to fight back with someone that fought back with him was to use a gun.

This book is actually very realistic because Tryray bought the gun and people do sell guns to minors in real life. Some people feel that they can only fight back with a weapon. In this book that’s how Tryray fells, he thinks that he needs to kill Darrel because Darrel proved to Tryray that he’s not the only one that can fight. I would recommend reading this book because it has a great life lesson in throughout the book. The book could really happen in real life also if you’re going through bulling you can learn something though this. The writing is intense, the writer, writes so well that you would think it was a true story. The writing is very descriptive and it turns into a movie in your head

Book Review by Nora C.

The Gun

Introduction

The Gun, by Paul Langan, is the sequel to his first book, The Bully.  This is the second book in the series. The story picks up just after Darrell breaks Tyray’s hand. Tyray was originally the biggest bully in the school. He would beat up kids for money because his family had little of their own. This story is about a boy who finds himself in a lot of trouble: his friends are making fun of him, his dad is going crazy, the teachers are on his case, it’s a mess for Tyray.

Summary

This story is about a kid named Tyray who is trying to get his reputation back. This story takes place in a rough city in California sometime in the 1990s. The book begins when Tyray is sent to the principal with a broken hand, and the principal threatens to expel Tyray if he causes any more problems. Darrell Mercer had broken Tyray’s hand in a fight earlier, which caused Tyray to lose his reputation as somebody who doesn’t back out, and people think he’s a total loser. Tyray decides to change things by getting a gun to shoot Darrell. I found this interesting because the gun does not change anything, it just makes Tyray feel a lot worse about himself.

Analysis/Review

I liked Paul Langan’s first book in this series, The Bully, better than The Gun, because it showed the perspectives of Darrell and Tyray with more feeling. It was harder to understand Darrell’s motivations in The Gun, because the book didn’t often describe his feelings. I like this series because I can relate to being made fun of. I was always picked on because I was short and never outgoing. In the story I found it surprising that Tyray actually followed up on his plan to get the gun and finally shoot Darrell. 

Book Review by John P.