A remarkable debut novel ripped from the much to common school shooting headlines but brilliantly told from a unique perspective.
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SUMMARY In ONLY CHILD six-year-old Zack Taylor tells us a story. It’s the story of how he survives a deadly shooting at his school by hiding in his classroom closet with his teacher. But one of the 19 casualties was his 10-year-old brother, Andy. Zach’s mother is utterly shocked and devastated. She is on a desperate quest for justice against the shooter’s parents and has no time for Zach. Zach tells us about how he felt invisible. And how he made a secret hideout and surrounded himself with a picture of his brother, his favorite books and some special drawings he made of his feelings. He is on his own to figure out how to cope. So he starts reading his Magic Tree House books and thinks he has found an answer. Armed with the hope and willfulness of a child, Zach attempts to help his parents find love and forgiveness again.
REVIEW I finished this heartbreaking book yesterday morning; but by yesterday afternoon the subject of this book became our reality, once again. Another school shooting in another city. This one in Parkland, Florida at a high school where 17 children were murdered, and shattered families are left in tatters. When will it end?
ONLY CHILD left me in tears. It’s heartbreaking because it is so real and so senseless. But it’s also a beautiful story of a child’s resilience and a child’s desire to make things right. With Zack as the narrator, you will be instantly engrossed by his telling of the pops he heard while hiding in the closest. You will marvel at the way he described his feelings with colors, and you will quickly fall in love with this six-year-old’s huge heart.
RHIANNON NAVIN’s debut novel is stellar. The characters are as real as a book can get and the writing is impeccable. While the subject matter may be difficult to read, it’s fascinating and perhaps even valuable to understand it from the mind of a child, who is also a survivor and a sibling of one that is lost forever. I listened to the Audible version of this book, which made it all the more real. The narrator, Kivlighan de Montebello was disarming. Book Published February 6, 2018.
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