Zach is in a closet with all of his classmates and his teacher at school. There is a gunman shooting in the hallway outside.
Then the police come and the class goes out of the room into the hall and to a church. Zach turns around in the hall and sees blood on the walls and bodies on the floor. His Mom and Dad are at the church. They can't locate Zach's brother, Andy. Then the news comes to them that Andy has been killed by said gunman.
The gunman turns out to be the son of the security guard of the school, Charlie.
This is told as the voice of a six year old and tears your heart apart. Zach is trying to feel his emotions, work with his parents on their emotions and they are all different.
Then the police come and the class goes out of the room into the hall and to a church. Zach turns around in the hall and sees blood on the walls and bodies on the floor. His Mom and Dad are at the church. They can't locate Zach's brother, Andy. Then the news comes to them that Andy has been killed by said gunman.
The gunman turns out to be the son of the security guard of the school, Charlie.
This is told as the voice of a six year old and tears your heart apart. Zach is trying to feel his emotions, work with his parents on their emotions and they are all different.
Only Child is told from the perspective of Zach Taylor, a six year old survivor of a school shooting in which his only sibling is killed. Initially his parents are consumed by grief, but his mother's sadness gives way to anger as she becomes obsessed with punishing the parents of the shooter. Zach struggles to cope with his feelings in the aftermath of the shooting, and cracks in his parents' relationship widen. The story is beautifully written, and it is heartbreaking to read about events as they unfold from Zach's naive perspective. Ultimately the story is uplifting though as it is about resiliency and the strong bonds of family. I really enjoyed this one.
