Book review: Taking Aim: Power and Pain, Teens and Guns, edited by Michael Cart

Cart, Michael, ed. Taking Aim: Power and Pain, Teens and Guns. HarperTeen, 2015. $17.99. ISBN: 9780062327352. 345p. Gr. 9-12. P6 Q10

This is a poignant, painful, and insightful collection of short stories intended to provide multiple viewpoints on teens, guns, school shootings, hunting, etc. Editor Michael Cart introduces the collection and a prologue by Marc Aronson, Will Weaver, and Chris Crutcher poses the questions: “What are guns for? Where do they fit in our society?” Stories range from “lost boy joins gang” (“Roach”, by Walter Dean Myers) to “hunting holiday goes awry” (“Shoot”, by Gregory Galloway.) There are tales of “gun intoxication” (“Certified Deactivated”, by Chris Lynch) and a weird little graphic novel, “Love Packs Heat” by Eric Shanower, where Cupid encounters problems when he substitutes firepower for his traditional bow and arrows.   “Embraced by Raven Arms” is Tim Wynne-Jones account of what happens when guns and mental illness collide. All of the stories are bittersweet reminders of the pain guns can cause in the hands of teens, as there are no positive outcomes in any of these selections. This collection would be a great one to promote class discussion.

P6 Q10 Review by L.F., NHS Staff

[Editor’s note: Thirteen short stories explore the impact of guns on teens.]