after2

After, by Francine Prose ISBN: 0-06-008081-7 c2003 330 pages

Good sections to read aloud: -pp. 13-18 where Mr. Trent is introducing Mr. Willner, the new grief and crisis counselor at Central High School

Summary: Tom and his friends are overwhelmed by all of the new rules Mr. Willner, the new grief and crisis counselor, is putting into place in light of a school shooting 50 miles away at another school. For example, students can no longer wear the color red. They can’t carry cell phones. They are not allowed to bring gum into school....all privileges they had until the nearby shooting. Then the random drug tests start and one of Tom’s friends fails it and is sent away. The school officials tell Tom and the rest of the student body that Silas will only be away for a month, but he never returns. Neither do two other students that were sent away. Tom and his friends start to wonder what is really happening, but are afraid to do too much digging for fear they will be sent away. What is going on?

YA Fiction--teen issues; school shootings; high schools; conspiracies

©Jennifer Lang - WDMS - 2004