Little Falls High School Reads discussion

Rather than a "BookTalk" in front of the class, please discuss your books here.

Some discussion topics include:
1. Are the characters in your book realistic and if so how? Can you relate to them or do they remind you of teens you know? Would you be friends with any of the characters in your book? Explain. NO REAL names mentioned in responses.

2. What have you learned from your book or has your opinion about the topic changed from reading this book?

See where the discussion takes you. Stay on topic, but feel free to have an organic discussion about the book. Read the other discussions on GoodReads for ideas about what else to discuss.Endgame

1. Yes, I believe the characters are realistic because they experience similar things that people experience everyday.They do not remind me of anyone I know. I would be friends because he likes drums and he likes to hunt which is something I enjoy.He seems to be a cool person and I think he and I would be good friends.
2.One thing I learned is about how people can be broken so quickly and how mean some people can be to try to trigger people to snap.

Travis, I'm glad that you were able to see real-life examples in your book. While the characters did not remind you of anyone in your life, could you see how these situations could easily happen in real life?

Please, always capitalize I as a proper noun and proofread for spelling, punctuation and grammar.

I agree that the characters in this book are realistic. The situations are too. Some bullying cases I've heard about have had some situations similar to those in the book. I could relate to Gray because he plays the drums and I play guitar so we would have music in common. I would be friends with Gray's next door neighbor. She seems like she would be easy to like because she is so nice and caring towards Gray, like when she cleans him off. I have learned how far someone can be pushed from this book. I have heard of school shootings but never had I gotten a glimpse into the mind of the shooter until I read this book.

Thank you for joining the discussion, Christina. I'm glad you went as far as to compare the book to real-world shootings. I really wonder what we can do as a society to keep students from pushing others to their breaking point. We would need to first really think about what makes other people "tick," right?

I agree, however, everyone reacts in different ways to the same situations. It would be very difficult to establish a general breaking point for everyone.

Christina wrote: "I agree, however, everyone reacts in different ways to the same situations. It would be very difficult to establish a general breaking point for everyone."

Great point. You are right that everyone has a different breaking point. So, really we need to just make sure to treat each other with kindness - The Golden Rule.

The characters in this book are realistic because they show their true emotions and talk to eachother like you would in real life. I can't relate to them and nobody I know reminds me of them that well. No I wouldn't be friends with the main character because we like different things and we don't seem compatible. I've learned that bullying affects people in a big way.

I like how Nancy Garden (the author) expresses the cruelty of bullying in this book. It makes you feel like this book was a true story. The characters are realistic because their minds are the same of any teenager. This book shows the devastating effects of bullying. It's sickening to think that teens would do a shocking thing like shoot their own classmates. But this is today's society and school shootings are becoming more common which is pretty sad.

Amber wrote: "The characters in this book are realistic because they show their true emotions and talk to eachother like you would in real life. I can't relate to them and nobody I know reminds me of them that w..."

Amber, thank you for joining the discussion. Do you believe that real people always show their real emotions in real life? I'm not sure I agree. I believe that many people in real life hide their real emotions, only showing the reactions that they think society wants them to show to be "normal."

Alec wrote: "I like how Nancy Garden (the author) expresses the cruelty of bullying in this book. It makes you feel like this book was a true story."

Alec, thank you for joining the discussion. Isn't it both shocking and sad that the incidents in this book could have actually happened in real life. While we acknowledge this truth, we must realize that there is still time for us to change little things in our own lives to help even one other person.