Bosco’s Book Bin: Bring A Gun to School Day
I recently took a trip to one of my favorite sporting goods stores with bile and laur. I noticed a box of books written by a comrade of mine from ALL. I was pretty happy to see them out in public so I snatched up a copy, read it and brought it to the next ALL meeting to get it signed. What follows is a review of the book. It should be noted that while I do know the author I’m striving to be impartial in my review.
The book details a fictional account of a young man attending high school when a large scale school shooting takes place in another state. The administration of the building as well as federal authorities leverage the tragedy to continue to institute oppressive policies at the school. Certain types of students are targeted and harassed based on their appearance or habits. In an effort to strike back at the people oppressing him, the protagonist posts fliers claiming that April 19th is “Bring a Gun to School Day”. As you can imagine, the reaction of the federal agents and school administration is quite over-the-top. All hell proceeds to break loose.
As a teacher I was impressed by the authors ability to accurately capture the sort of shenanigans that occur in a public school. The school isn’t portrayed in a very nice light, but I’d say at least 90% of the actions taken by the school are very probable in the real world. The author’s ruminations on the purpose of attendance systems and school IDs are quite on target. Also the author seems very clued in to the sheer amount of mayhem that can result from a large bureaucracy and the absolution from individual accountability that comes with it.
The novella is written in simple direct prose which makes for a very quick read. Despite this it still managed to noticeably pick up the pace approximately two-thirds of the way in. As is true of most political fiction the storyline is used as a medium for conveying political thoughts. Internal monologues and dialog between the characters are often used simply to espouse political ideals. I would complain that the characters seem a little flat, but in all honesty the novella is only 121 pages long. That’s really a tiny space in which to fully develop the characters. The writing style also seems a very juvenile to me, but it does match the characters involved. Someday, I’d like to see the author create a longer novel geared more towards adults.
Taking into account the inherent difficulty in writting a novella and the fact that this seems to be the authors first published work this book shows real promise. Literary criticism aside, the book also tells a story that really needs to be heard. As someone who was in highschool during the Columbine shootings, I’d like to see more of this kind of expression. I’d recommend this book for young adults interested in libertarian ideals and looking for a quick read. It strikes me as the kind of thing that could possibly open the eyes of a young person.
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