Shooter.

SHOOTER. Walter Dean Myers. 2004. Read by Chad Coleman, Bernie McInerney, Michelle Santopietro. 3 tapes. 3.75 hrs. Recorded Books. 1-4025-8492-x. $28.75. Vinyl; plot notes. JS*

From the May 2004 KLIATT review of the book: "The acclaimed author of Monster and many other books for YAs turns his attention to a school shooting in this disturbing look at how such a terrible event can come to pass. The novel, a collage of sorts, begins with an interview with Cameron, a 17-year-old African American student whose role in the shooting is not immediately clear. What does emerge is a portrait of an outsider, a bright but lonely boy who is befriended by Len, a white boy full of hate and anger. Len teaches Cameron to shoot and involves him in vandalizing a church. Both boys are bullied at school by jocks, but the authorities overlook it. Through more interviews, school, police, and newspaper reports, and finally Len's handwritten journal, we piece together the tragedy and the roles of each player, and understand how it came to pass ..."

Creatively plotted as a series of interviews with teenagers by investigating officials after a school shooting, this engages the listener from beginning to end. The readers bring character and distinction to all characters, including the investigators and the two friends of Leonard Gray, who commits suicide after killing a star athlete. The similarities to Columbine are huge. Gray is a bullied outsider with a taste for nihilistic, alternative music. In addition to the interviews, Grey's journal, found after his death, is read and it is chilling--a brilliant and vivid exploration of the mind of a sadly confused and cruel adolescent from a dysfunctional family. The friends were not a part of the plot but have their own issues as outsiders in a cliquish high school. Nancy Chaplin, Libn., VCCW, Goochland, VA