The Hate List by Jennifer Brown

I read this book with a knot in my stomach.  It is, after all, the story of the aftermath of a school after a shooting took place within it's walls. The protagonist of the story was the girlfriend of the kid who changed his world and everyone else's when he decided to bring a gun to school and use it.

While I believe this book is extremely sensitive in its nature and it's only for mature middle and high school readers, I do think the strength of this book is that at it's heart it is a book that will get kids and adults talking about tragic realities of our world.  I urge kids who read this book to talk to me while reading, or even better, get a parent of other trusted grown-up to read it with them.

It's tough stuff, but reading about tough stuff only helps us better deal with the tough stuff we face in our real lives.