Violent Ends

by Shaun David Hutchinson, Neal Shusterman, Brendan Shusterman, Beth Revis, Cynthia Leitich Smith

Overview

In a one-of-a-kind collaboration, seventeen of the most recognizable YA writers—including Shaun David Hutchinson, Neal and Brendan Shusterman, and Beth Revis—come together to share the viewpoints of a group of students affected by a school shooting.

It took only twenty-two minutes for Kirby Matheson to exit his car, march onto the school grounds, enter the gymnasium, and open fire, killing six and injuring five others.

But this isn’t a story about the shooting itself. This isn’t about recounting that one unforgettable day.

This is about one boy—who had friends, enjoyed reading, playing saxophone in the band, and had never been in trouble before—became a monster capable of entering his school with a loaded gun and firing bullets at his classmates.

Each chapter is told from a different victim’s viewpoint, giving insight into who Kirby was and who he’d become. Some are sweet, some are dark; some are seemingly unrelated, about fights or first kisses or late-night parties. This is a book told from multiple perspectives—with one character and one event drawing them all together—by some of YA’s most recognizable names.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481437462
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	12/13/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	186,048
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Shaun David Hutchinson is the author of The Deathday Letter, fml, and The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley.

Other contributing authors include Neal and Brendan Shusterman, Beth Revis, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Courtney Summers, Kendare Blake, Delilah S. Dawson, Steve Brezenoff, Tom Leveen, Hannah Moskowitz, Blythe Woolston, Trish Doller, Mindi Scott, Margie Gelbwasser, Christine Johnson, E.M. Kokie, and Elisa Nader.

Read an Excerpt

Violent Ends You take off your belt.

And it happens again.

Editorial Reviews

The storytelling is wonderfully intense and distinctive… Readers will be captivated.” –VOYA, starred review

“Engaging and heart-wrenching.” –Kirkus Reviews

“A fresh and thought-provoking take on a disturbingbut relevant topic.” –School Library Journal

“These stories humanize a troubled teenager, as well as the people who hurt him along the way, but the authors don’t let anyone off the hook, Kirby least of all.” –Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

08/17/2015
Seventeen young adult writers including Steve Brezenoff, Beth Revis, Cynthia Leitich Smith, and Courtney Summers contribute to this powerful project—a single story told through multiple perspectives—to provide insight into what drove Kirby Matheson, an imagined school shooter, to kill five classmates, a teacher, and himself. The voices include those of Kirby's girlfriend, childhood neighbor, and even the gun he used, creating an external portrait of a complex character who "did some good things and some monstrous things in life." There are hints at Kirby's motivation—he saves a suicidal student, kills helpless bugs, gets bullied, is preyed on by a teacher—but, as is often the case in real life, the killer never explains himself. In the aftermath, Kirby's younger sister realizes that the shooting "doesn't define her" or even tell Kirby's whole story, while a school bully wonders why when Kirby "had a shot at me... he didn't take it." These stories humanize a troubled teenager, as well as the people who hurt him along the way, but the authors don't let anyone off the hook, Kirby least of all. Ages 14–up. Agent: Amy Boggs, Donald Maass Literary Agency. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

2015-06-23
A variety of characters affected by a school shooting offer their perspectives in this work of realistic fiction penned by 17 different authors and coordinated by Hutchinson. When Kirby Matheson, a high school student with a history both of being bullied and of coming to the aid of others being maltreated, kills six of his fellow students and then himself, everyone searches for answers. Each chapter offers a singular point of view from a person who knew him well, such as his sister, a close friend whom he tried to help escape horrific sexual abuse by her father, and a girl with whom he'd had a romance, as well as those who knew Kirby only in passing: a former neighbor, a cheerleader with an eating disorder who'd previously been in the school band with him, and a girl who turned down his invitation to a school formal. A vignette from the point of view of his childhood tormentor is deeply troubling. The most experimental section is narrated by the gun Kirby used to commit the murders. This collection of stories provocatively and effectively illustrates the multidimensionality of someone considered to be a monster, and readers will find much of it fascinating and moving. However, the sheer number of perspectives feels unwieldy at times. Engaging and heart-wrenching but spread a bit too thin. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews