"THE HATE LIST," by Jennifer Brown, Little, Brown, 416 pages, $16.99 (young adult)
The action was once thought unthinkable. Now, it happens with unnerving frequency. A confused student filled with anger and hate enters school with a gun and opens fire.
"The Hate List," a haunting debut novel by Jennifer Brown, looks at this emotionally charged topic from the inside out.
Five months ago, 16-year-old Valerie Leftman's life fell apart. And no matter how hard she tries to forget, that day will remain etched in her memory forever.
What had started with a bad morning turned into a horrific nightmare when Val's boyfriend, Nick, took a gun to school and opened fire in the cafeteria.
Trying to get Nick to stop, Val inadvertently saves another classmate and ends up in the line of fire. Nick then turns the gun on himself and ends the carnage. The damage is done, though, at least six are dead and many more injured, including Val.
By all counts, Val should be a hero, but instead she's a suspect, implicated in the shooting because of a list she helped create — a hate list.
Written in moments of frustration and anger, it contains the names of people Val and Nick hated. But that's all it was, a cathartic exercise, or so Val thought. Until Nick used the list to pick his targets
After weeks of questions, police searches, reviews of e-mails and security tapes, and interviews with survivors, Val is deemed innocent by investigators. But the court of public opinion is still out.
The newspapers have dubbed Val "The Girl Who Hates Everyone" and though the school presented her an award for heroically stopping the carnage, many, including Val, can't forgive her for her part in the shootings.
Val's decision to return to the same school comes as a shock to the community, and Val feels like more of an outcast now than she did before. And memories of the Nick she loved keep flooding back. She misses her boyfriend, and that only adds to her feelings of guilt.
Despite the pain, though, there are moments, people and actions that give Val hope — friendship from an unexpected source, a school project, the unending support from a psychiatrist. Little by little, as Val comes to grips with her role in the tragedy, emotional healing takes place, for her and the community as a whole.
Often in the news, we read and hear about tragedies. Reporters rush to find answers and meaning behind such events. But after a while, the media frenzy dies down and those involved are charged with moving on. And that process, where "The Hate List" picks up, is a different story unto itself.
"The Hate List" is a gripping novel that engages the reader on numerous levels. It asks hard questions to which there are few answers and forces the reader to look at events from more than one point of view.
A topic such as a school shooting is emotionally charged. Brown's sensitive, but honest, handling of it is to be commended. And though telling the story from the perspective of one of the accused, Brown never trivializes the feelings or actions of the victims.
Brown walks a fine line and does it well. Here, she has created an excellent piece that parents should not be afraid of their teens reading.
The shooting is recounted through newspaper articles and Val's own memories. It's a frightening and intense scene, but it's not overly gory. The details come in the emotions, the flashes of color, remembrances. There is some harsh language here, but it is fitting with the situation and is used sparingly.
Though written for young adults, "The Hate List" effortlessly straddles the age barrier. It's a worthwhile read that delves into the consequences of one's actions and the power of forgiveness.
e-mail: jharrison@desnews.com