Only Child

I was just in a bookstore that I occasionally browse in Minneapolis and I was SHOCKED that Only Child was not one of the display books for two reasons: 1) It was released at the beginning of this month and 2) the book starts with children hiding in the closet at a school from a gunman.

The premise of the book was that it was told through the eyes of a younger child who survived a school shooting...but their sibling was killed in that tragedy.

I was lucky that I obtained an advanced readers copy of this book and read it a few months ago to give feedback on whether or not it should be considered for a Book of the Month selection.

If I owned a bookstore I would make sure it would get some kind of attention right now. The tragedy of shootings at a school in Florida has gotten our nation shocked and angry. As we are addressing issues of gun control as a nation it helps to put on a more human face. People are hungry for these kinds of stories in our current political climate.

Literature is one of the ways that we can bring more humanity behind statistics we address. If I had enough money to send this book to all of my representative and our president I would. Only I would hope that it would propel action. We need more than thoughts and prayers to make our nation safe for all of our children!!