MAY 2021 - AudioFile
Narrator Graham Halstead gives children a true voice in this heartbreaking, infuriating, and devastating account of the impact of gun violence on kids and their families. When quoting children, he treats them with respect by making them sound youthful without infantilizing their voices. Cox has done a truly remarkable job of humanizing the horrific effects of gun violence on our nation. He looks at children who have survived being shot and those who have lost loved ones to shootings. Both he and Halstead make the people involved seem real, including a girl who lost her friend, a boy who lost his father, and their family members. This is an outstanding audiobook. G.S. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 11/23/2020
Washington Post reporter Cox debuts with a hard-hitting report on the impact of gun violence on American children. Noting that, on average, a child is shot every hour in the U.S. and that 30,000 kids and teenagers have been killed by guns in the last 10 years, Cox argues that America is in the midst of a public health crisis. The story of pen pals Ava Olsen, who lost her friend and first-grade classmate in a school shooting in 2016, and Tyshaun McPhatter, whose father was killed in 2017, illuminates both the emotional trauma of gun violence and the healing power of friendship for its youngest victims. Cox also explains how the NRA pressures lawmakers to reject gun control measures that have broad public support, details the rise of a $3 billion school safety industry, and debunks myths about school shooters and the effectiveness of teaching gun safety to children. His solutions include universal background checks, increased funding for research into the causes of gun violence, and child access prevention laws. Balancing sound research with moving profiles of victims and activists, Cox makes an impeccable case for how to solve the problem and why it’s essential to do so now. Agent: David McCormick, McCormick Literary. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
"A searing new book . . . [Children Under Fire] should force change." — Editorial Board, The Washington Post
“Cox shines a light on America's gun violence crisis through deeply personal and profoundly affecting stories of the children who live with its everlasting repercussions.” — Newsweek
“Demonstrates that the most effective riposte to those who fetishize bearing arms is to bear witness.” — New York Times Book Review
“An important book and should be read by as many people as possible.” — Washington Post
“[A] powerful report on the emotional scars left by gun violence . . . Cox analyzes the gun crisis astutely, but his surpassing achievement in this eloquent book is to let children speak for themselves about their grief. Put this one on a shelf with Alex Kotlowitz’s There Are No Children Here—and have a box of tissues handy . . . indispensable.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Cox adapts his groundbreaking Pulitzer Prize–nominated series in this harrowing and illuminating account of gun violence in America, told through the children witnessing (and traumatized by) it, interwoven with an analysis of the government’s profound failure to protect them.” — Buzzfeed, “Most Anticipated Books Of 2021”
"A hard-hitting report. . . . [Children Under Fire] illuminates both the emotional trauma of gun violence and the healing power of friendship for its youngest victims. . . . Balancing sound research with moving profiles of victims and activists, Cox makes an impeccable case for how to solve the problem and why it's essential to do so now." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Children Under Fire is a major accomplishment. Anyone who cares about the problem of guns in America—and we all should—will find in John Woodrow Cox’s work fresh insights and suggestions for common-sense solutions. This deeply reported, impressive book is sure to be one of the most important of the year.” — Dan Rather, journalist and author of What Unites Us
“In Children Under Fire, one of our most gifted storytellers and meticulous reporters probes the unspeakable toll that this nation's unabated gun violence exacts of our most vulnerable: our kids. John Woodrow Cox writes with a searing clarity, laying bare the uniquely American tragedy that has traumatized generations of our children and, by our continued inaction, threatens to traumatize generations more.” — Wesley Lowery, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of They Can't Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore and a New Era in America's Racial Justice Movement
“This heartbreakingly beautiful work brings us into the minds of children like Ava & Tyshaun, helping us to better understand that the scars of gun violence are not just physical. Their unforgettable stories are sure to inspire calls for action, as the book makes an eloquent case that the time has come to pass meaningful reforms to address America’s gun violence crisis.” — Former U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords
Wesley Lowery
In Children Under Fire, one of our most gifted storytellers and meticulous reporters probes the unspeakable toll that this nation's unabated gun violence exacts of our most vulnerable: our kids. John Woodrow Cox writes with a searing clarity, laying bare the uniquely American tragedy that has traumatized generations of our children and, by our continued inaction, threatens to traumatize generations more.
New York Times Book Review
Demonstrates that the most effective riposte to those who fetishize bearing arms is to bear witness.
Newsweek
Cox shines a light on America's gun violence crisis through deeply personal and profoundly affecting stories of the children who live with its everlasting repercussions.
Former U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords
This heartbreakingly beautiful work brings us into the minds of children like Ava & Tyshaun, helping us to better understand that the scars of gun violence are not just physical. Their unforgettable stories are sure to inspire calls for action, as the book makes an eloquent case that the time has come to pass meaningful reforms to address America’s gun violence crisis.
Washington Post
An important book and should be read by as many people as possible.
Editorial Board
"A searing new book . . . [Children Under Fire] should force change."
Dan Rather
Children Under Fire is a major accomplishment. Anyone who cares about the problem of guns in America—and we all should—will find in John Woodrow Cox’s work fresh insights and suggestions for common-sense solutions. This deeply reported, impressive book is sure to be one of the most important of the year.
“Most Anticipated Books Of 2021” Buzzfeed
Cox adapts his groundbreaking Pulitzer Prize–nominated series in this harrowing and illuminating account of gun violence in America, told through the children witnessing (and traumatized by) it, interwoven with an analysis of the government’s profound failure to protect them.”
Washington Post
An important book and should be read by as many people as possible.
Newsweek
Cox shines a light on America's gun violence crisis through deeply personal and profoundly affecting stories of the children who live with its everlasting repercussions.
New York Journal of Books
Absorbing . . . at once painful to read but vitally necessary if Americans are to understand the ‘widely ignored’ epidemic that affects millions in ways we still do not fully understand. . . . A strikingly empathetic, well-crafted report, [and] an urgent call to sensible action on behalf of our nation’s children.
Booklist
A difficult but important book, refusing to allow its readers to look away from the true human cost of America’s continued failure to protect its children from gun violence.
Booklist
A difficult but important book, refusing to allow its readers to look away from the true human cost of America’s continued failure to protect its children from gun violence.
Eli Saslow
A great and necessary book that shatters our numbness toward gun violence in America and treats the epidemic with the urgency it deserves. With remarkable empathy and incisive reporting, John Woodrow Cox introduces us to young victims and survivors whose stories become unforgettable. His reporting demands that we do better — and also reveals how we can.
Bruce Perry
An astounding, heartbreaking, hopeful book. Cox has a reporter’s ear, a director’s eye and a poet’s rhythm as he weaves key facts through the powerful stories of children and families impacted by gun violence, using his gifts to bring the scope of these problems to light. I can’t recommend this book enough; it is one of the few I’ve read that has the potential to lead to meaningful change in our gun-sick society.
Kevin Merida
A riveting examination of the impact of gun violence on kids. John Woodrow Cox brings his full brilliance, compassion and storytelling strength to this complex subject. This book is an urgent read if we are to move past our paralysis as a nation and save more young lives.
Shannon Watts
John Woodrow Cox has dedicated years of his life and career to covering some of the most difficult and important stories of our time about how trauma—particularly in the aftermath of gun violence— impacts everyday Americans. His humanity and attention to detail breathes life into statistics and enables him to embody his subjects, drawing readers into the narratives he weaves and rendering them altered by the end. John’s stories will never leave your conscience, nor should they.
Connie Schultz
This is a book like no other because it is told by the children whose lives have been shattered by gun violence in their families, their schools and in their communities. They are the experts America has ignored for too long. Not anymore. John Woodrow Cox has a profound respect for children and a willingness to listen to them. In return, they have trusted him with the hardest stories of their lives."
Library Journal
01/01/2021
Washington Post journalist Cox analyzes the devastating effects of gun violence on children. He advocates three concrete measures to combat this public health emergency: universal background checks, laws that prevent children from having access to firearms, and government support for empirical research. Cox draws from extensive data and from poignant stories, including pen pals Tyshaun McPhatter and Ava Olsen. McPhatter, a nine-year-old living in Washington, DC, and Olsen, an eight-year-old South Carolinian, both experienced violence firsthand. Tyshaun's father was killed during a wave of violence in DC, and Ava witnessed a shooting at her school, which claimed the life of a close friend. Cox sketches portraits of other victims, activists, teenage school shooters, parents, and legislators who now champion gun control after many years of taking the opposite side. The author also cogently considers issues surrounding the Second Amendment and investigates the successful attempts by the NRA to influence legislation and research. VERDICT A carefully reasoned, compelling, and persuasive study of a crisis that requires immediate attention.—Jacqueline Snider, Toronto
MAY 2021 - AudioFile
Narrator Graham Halstead gives children a true voice in this heartbreaking, infuriating, and devastating account of the impact of gun violence on kids and their families. When quoting children, he treats them with respect by making them sound youthful without infantilizing their voices. Cox has done a truly remarkable job of humanizing the horrific effects of gun violence on our nation. He looks at children who have survived being shot and those who have lost loved ones to shootings. Both he and Halstead make the people involved seem real, including a girl who lost her friend, a boy who lost his father, and their family members. This is an outstanding audiobook. G.S. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2021-03-24
In a stellar debut, Cox expands his Washington Post series on the invisible wounds of children damaged by gun violence, a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing.
In 2016, after the fatal shooting of a classmate at her South Carolina school, 7-year-old Ava Olsen was so traumatized that she developed severe PTSD. She even used stickers to cover up the “scary words” in Little House on the Prairie: “gun, fire, blood, kill.” In this powerful report on the emotional scars left by gun violence, Cox argues that Ava is one of millions of American children “who weren’t shot and aren’t considered victims by our legal system but who have, nonetheless, been irreparably harmed by the epidemic.” With deep sympathy for his young subjects, he probes the roots of—and possible solutions to—the crisis, taking sharp aim at the $3 billion school security market, which exploits parental fears by touting products of unproven worth, such as “$150 bulletproof backpacks.” But the beating heart of the narrative consists of the heart-rending stories of vulnerable children. Ava’s pen pal Tyshaun McPhatter wouldn’t let his mother wash a sweatshirt worn by his father, murdered in Washington, D.C., so he’d remember the scent. Her schoolmate Siena Kibilko, prepared for another shooting, had picked out a hiding spot at school “where she just knew the gunman wouldn’t think to look.” Especially moving is the story of Ava’s 6-year-old superhero-loving classmate, Jacob Hall, killed in the shooting at her school and laid out at his funeral in a Batman costume, mourned at the church by friends dressed in his honor as Captain America and other superheroes. Cox analyzes the gun crisis astutely, but his surpassing achievement in this eloquent book is to let children speak for themselves about their grief. Put this one on a shelf with Alex Kotlowitz’s There Are No Children Here—and have a box of tissues handy.
An indispensable contribution to the debate about gun violence.
