 |
America was hurled into a state of shock by the events of April 20, 1999, when two students opened fire on their unsuspecting classmates and teachers. The repercussions of this unthinkable tragedy linger for the author, who lives within minutes of Columbine High School. At the time of the mass shooting, his children attended another area high school. The multitudes of news outlets flooding the community further increased the anxiety of those living in Littleton, Colorado. Decades later, Case sets off on a cross-country cycling adventure with four others. During this trip, he finds himself contemplating that fateful day and one of its victims, Kyle Velasquez, a foster kid placed in Columbine by the office where he worked. Though Case learns much from the more seasoned members of the cycling group, amazingly, it is Kyle from whom he discovers the most and who leads him to write and publish this work.
The author alternates between the events of Columbine, his own life, and his cycling journey with four other men in an effective and intense narrative. Those who remember the event are brought back to that time and place with familiar heartbreaking stories of loss and courage. The voices of those who survived, and sometimes those who didn’t, rise from the past to bring tears once again to eyes now jaded from too many familiar stories of bloodshed in American schools. Those who know the tragedy only from the memories of others will discover the disbelief and anger collectively felt by the nation. Case explores the question of gun violence that still plagues an America that refuses to acknowledge the problem adequately. This poignant work lays bare these unanswered questions and tells us, “The journey is far from over.”
RECOMMENDED by the US Review