Wednesday, July 11, 2018

SHOOTER by Caroline Pignat

Shooter

Alice, Isabelle, Hogan, and Xander end up in the same boys restroom when the Lockdown announcement is made over the PA. Hogan is dressed in the school mascot costume and not at all happy about it. Isabelle is concerned that a string of recent pranks will result in the principal following through on his threat to cancel all extracurricular events including the prom she has work so hard to plan. Alice is worried about her autistic brother and how he will respond to this sudden change in his routine. Xander continues snapping pictures without seeming to care about the potentially dangerous situation.

Isabelle's phone soon buzzes with a text from a friend hiding under a desk in the main office. The text describes the police arriving at the scene and the frightening fact that THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

At first it appears there is one shooter and he has been identified. There are sounds of gunfire and possibly firecrackers. What could be taking so long? Minutes tick by as the each of the students share their thoughts and fears.

When another text message from Isabelle's friend mentions the presence of a second shooter, one of the four bathroom prisoners reacts in a way that suggestions one of them might be involved. Now what should they do?

Author Caroline Pignat uses prose, poetry, text messages, and journal entries to chronicle the events of one hour in the lives of four grade 12 students as they struggle to survive an incident of gun violence in their school. SHOOTER is passionate and realistic from start to finish.

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