Give a Boy a Gun Essay
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Lauralee Small
Mrs. Kerry
Honors English IV
20 November 2014 Always Treat Others With Respect
For my second quarter free reading book, I chose to read Give a Boy a Gun by Todd
Strasser. This was a very interesting book about two high school students who were bullied and teased by their fellow athletic classmates, who eventually end up going off the deep end. I really enjoyed the way that this book was written because it was constructed by quotations that were made by the characters in the book. This is a fictional book that almost mimics and is actually based on the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999.
The two main characters of this book are Gary Searle and Brendan Lawlor, who are both students at Middletown High School. Gary has lived in this town since he was born, and Brendan had just moved to Middleton recently. These two soon became friends and watched out for each other as they got bullied by the football players at their high school, who were constantly calling them “fags” or other rude, degrading terms. “Here's why. You made my friggin' life miserable,”
(Strasser 17). This line was from Brendan’s suicide note where he talks about how it wasn’t just the students who judged him and his friends, he believe that the parents of those kids also judged him. He believes that just because him and his friends dared to be a little different, that’s why people looked at them funny.
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Both Gary and Brendan started to become darker and angrier as the years went on, and they both began to dive deeper and deeper into the use of addictive substances, such as acid and alcohol. Along with Allison, Gary’s girlfriend, and Ryan, a mutual acquaintance, the four of them would visit an old abandoned shack to get high. Gary, developed a homemade, powerful bomb. As the teasing continues, Gary and Brendan decide to steal semiautomatic guns from a neighbor. The four of these kids would talk to each other on an instant
Lauralee Small
Mrs. Kerry
Honors English IV
20 November 2014 Always Treat Others With Respect
For my second quarter free reading book, I chose to read Give a Boy a Gun by Todd
Strasser. This was a very interesting book about two high school students who were bullied and teased by their fellow athletic classmates, who eventually end up going off the deep end. I really enjoyed the way that this book was written because it was constructed by quotations that were made by the characters in the book. This is a fictional book that almost mimics and is actually based on the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999.
The two main characters of this book are Gary Searle and Brendan Lawlor, who are both students at Middletown High School. Gary has lived in this town since he was born, and Brendan had just moved to Middleton recently. These two soon became friends and watched out for each other as they got bullied by the football players at their high school, who were constantly calling them “fags” or other rude, degrading terms. “Here's why. You made my friggin' life miserable,”
(Strasser 17). This line was from Brendan’s suicide note where he talks about how it wasn’t just the students who judged him and his friends, he believe that the parents of those kids also judged him. He believes that just because him and his friends dared to be a little different, that’s why people looked at them funny.
Small 2
Both Gary and Brendan started to become darker and angrier as the years went on, and they both began to dive deeper and deeper into the use of addictive substances, such as acid and alcohol. Along with Allison, Gary’s girlfriend, and Ryan, a mutual acquaintance, the four of them would visit an old abandoned shack to get high. Gary, developed a homemade, powerful bomb. As the teasing continues, Gary and Brendan decide to steal semiautomatic guns from a neighbor. The four of these kids would talk to each other on an instant