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Tag Archives: Mass shootings

U.S. Mass Shootings

24 Wednesday Mar 2021

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

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Mass shootings

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In the past seven days there have been seven mass shootings in the U.S., the last two in Georgia and Colorado. I’m not going to rant and rave as I usually do, because frankly, I just don’t have it in me right now. As President Obama said in his statement addressing the latest massacre in Boulder, Colorado:

A once-in-a-century pandemic cannot be the only thing that slows mass shootings in this country. We shouldn’t have to choose between one type of tragedy and another. It’s time for leaders everywhere to listen to the American people when they say enough is enough—because this is a normal we can no longer afford.

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Thoughts and prayers are not enough.

The Lucky Ones, by Liz Lawson ~ 5.0 Stars

29 Tuesday Oct 2019

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Coming-of age, LGBTQ, Mass shootings, Mental Illness, Romance, YA Fiction

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Thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: April 7th, 2020

352 Pages

Synopsis: For fans of “Thirteen Reasons Why,” “This Is How It Ends,” and “All the Bright Places,” comes a new novel about life after. How do you put yourself back together when it seems like you’ve lost it all?

May is a survivor. But she doesn’t feel like one. She feels angry. And lost. And alone. Eleven months after the school shooting, that killed her twin brother, May still doesn’t know why she was the only one to walk out of the band room that day. No one gets what she went through—no one saw and heard what she did. No one can possibly understand how it feels to be her.

Zach lost his old life when his mother decided to defend the shooter. His girlfriend dumped him, his friends bailed, and now he spends his time hanging out with his little sister…and the one faithful friend who stuck around. His best friend is needy and demanding, but he won’t let Zack disappear into himself. Which is how Zach ends up at band practice that night. The same night May goes with her best friend to audition for a new band.

Which is how May meets Zach. And how Zach meets May. And how both might figure out that surviving could be an option after all.

After reading The Lucky Ones last night over a two hour period I feel comfortable in saying this will be one of the most talked about books of 2020.

Told in alternating perspectives from May, the only survivor of a school shooting and Zach, whose mother has taken on the case of the shooter, the story explores the aftermath, when the cameras have left and the media’s and country’s attention has moved on to the next calamity-driven news cycle. May, who lost her twin brother is not only angry but is also suffering from survivor’s guilt and PTSD. Her fury and anguish are so palpable and just tore my heart in two. And Zach, a sweet awkward boy, has gone from having a normal social life, to dealing with being ostracized simply for being the son of the lawyer defending the shooter. That these two should meet and actually start healing each other shouldn’t have worked, yet it does. Their relationship has its ups and downs, but it develops in an utterly believable way. It’s messy, and tension-filled, and at times even humorous, but what remains constant is the need for these two lost souls to beat the odds and stay together. They each have a support system in place with their small group of friends, and thank goodness for that because the adult/parental disconnect is prevalent. By the end of the book though there’s hope for a strengthening in the bond between May and her mother, and Zach and his parents.

The Lucky Ones is an impressive debut for Liz Lawson, and I have a feeling we’ll be hearing a lot more from her. I’m not going to lie. This is an emotional, gut-wrenching tale, and I recommend that you have a box of tissues handy. It’s also a book that I feel privileged to have been granted an early copy and it’s one that I highly recommend for teens, parents, and any adult who cares about what kids are having to deal with today, things that we didn’t have to. The story doesn’t get political or wade into the gun control debate, although I recommend you read the author’s afterward where she discusses why she wrote this. Instead, it puts a human face to what life is like after a mass shooting. If there is going to be one book that I nag everyone to mark their calendars (4/7/20) and read, it’s The Lucky Ones. This is a book that every high school and public library should have on its shelves, so if you can, please put in requests to purchase to your libraries now. 

El Paso, Dayton and Gilroy ~ Ways To Help

05 Monday Aug 2019

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Charitable Giving, Mass shootings

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I’ve been doing a lot of pontificating for the last 48 hours, but I’m climbing off my soapbox (temporarily). I know when tragedies occur, whether they’re man-made or not, we all feel so helpless. Here are a few ways to help victims and their families from this past weekend’s violence as well as last week’s Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting.

Townsquare Media of El Paso ~ https://www.klaq.com/donate-to-el-paso-081319-victims-fund/

El Paso Community Foundation ~ https://payments.epcf.org

Paso del Notre Community Foundation ~ https://pdnfoundation.org

Dayton Foundation ~ https://www.daytonfoundation.org/080419pr.html

Public Good ~ https://impact.publicgood.com/campaign/d974f44d-9d2d-4b13-86cc-04b4f140f14b

Gilroy Foundation ~ http://www.gilroyfoundation.org

American Red Cross ~ https://www.redcross.org.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let Us Not Forget

18 Saturday Jun 2016

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 23 Comments

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Bigotry, Mass shootings, Orlando

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Almost one week ago forty-nine people lost their lives to a deranged man with evil in his heart. They went to the Pulse nightclub to have fun and because it was someplace safe where they could be themselves without fear of being judged or attacked. That itself makes me both sad and angry. People who are LGBT shouldn’t have to have “safe havens”. They shouldn’t have to worry about being seen in public, holding hands or kissing. They shouldn’t have to fight for the most basic of rights afforded to other U.S. citizens. Likewise, those of the Muslim faith shouldn’t have to be afraid of being accosted by so-called Christians because their religion is being hijacked by one segment of its followers. Donald Trump and others like him are trying to use this tragedy as fuel for their bigoted, racist agendas and it’s up to us to tell them that we’re not going to buy into their hateful and dangerous rhetoric. Enough is enough! It’s time to stop judging and hating people based on their race, religion, sexual orientation, or any other reason. What is it going to take for us to stop? Isn’t America supposed to be the “great melting pot”? If the massacre that took place in the early hours of Sunday June 12th can teach us anything it’s that there is no place in our society for bigotry of any kind. If we continue down this path it’s not going to be a matter of if another mass shooting/killing will occur, but when. The forty-nine people who lost their lives last week had family and friends who loved them. They had hopes and dreams just like all of us. They were us. Please let their deaths not be in vain.

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Hope For A Better World

18 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 19 Comments

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Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Inspirational quotes, Mass shootings, Nelson Mandela

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While it’s difficult to make any sense of the massacre at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston S.C, I think this beautiful quote bears repeating:

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than it’s opposite.”

~ Nelson Mandela ~

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the confessions of a random blogger

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Here’s where I’ll gush about my favorite books , shows, and other projects!

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all things bookish!!

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