This book has been through a lot when I have it on me. It’s been the novel I read when I’m on the bus into the city of Philadelphia to pass the time. Once or twice during these journeys I’ve forgotten an umbrella, so the book, residing in my backpack, has been soaked in multiple downpours while I wait for the bus in the pouring rain. The book is very much well worn, but it’s also been very much been loved.
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This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp is a contemporary young adult novel dealing with school shootings. This story is told from the perspectives of four teenagers at Opportunity High School in Alabama, each trying to survive and figure out the reason why this is happening. At 10:00 am the principal is in the auditorium giving a speech to the entire student body like she does every year, and once over and the students get up to leave, they discover that the auditorium doors are all locked and won’t budge open. That’s when the shooting starts.
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