by Beck McDowell
This book works on lots of different levels. There's the broken relationship between Jake and Emery. There's the health issues that people keep hidden. There's the courage the teenagers find when they are forced to care for 18 small children. And there's what happens to soldiers when they return...
2.5 starsToo short for such a complicated subject, and while it was a heavy one for YA, sometimes it felt like the reader was being talked down to. Still, couldn't put it down until I finished it, and I really liked Emery, Jake and the kids.
I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would.Jake and Emery are seniors who tutor first graders. One day, the father of one of the kids comes in demanding to take his kid. Since he has to go through the office and all that to take his son out, he opts to pull out a gun and take the entire c...
In "This is Not a Drill" by Beck McDowell, readers are allowed into the minds of two high school students who are volunteering in a classroom when a crazed parent with a gun holds the young students, the high school students and the teacher hostage.The whole book takes place during the hostage situa...
You can read all of my reviews at Alluring Reads.I always get nervous going into a short novel about whether or not there will be enough substance packed in for me to come to care about the characters and the events of the story. Beck McDowell proved that worry completely unfounded; in 224 pages she...
Another story that is strong yet impacting, it's really hard to separate your emotions while reading this. The plot of the book is just heart-breaking. After going to war, a father comes back different. The soldier, suffering from PTSD holds a classroom of kids hostage. Okay, lets stop right there. ...
A MUST READ.*I won an ARC of this book in a Goodreads giveaway. Intense, heart-breaking and hopeful, this little book delivers a realistic punch and is unputdownable. The story of two teens being held hostage along with a roomful of frightened first graders takes an honest look at the far reaching...
Review: 3 ½ out of 5 starsThis is Not a Drill by Beck McDowell was kindly provided to me by Hardie Grant Egmont Australia.This is Not a Drill was such an intense, emotionally gripping read which kept me immersed in the story from the very beginning.This story is told from the POV'S of 17 year-old Em...
See my forthcoming review in Kirkus.
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