Bibliographic
Information
Endgame by
Nancy Garden. Harcourt Children’s Books. (2006).
Price: $17.00 for hardback
Pages: 304 for hardback
Plot Summary
Fourteen-year-old Gray Wilton hopes that his new life will
be better than his old one. As he begins high school in a new town he wants to
believe that the bullying he left behind in his old town will not follow him.
He is determined to make better grades and possibly even convince his father to
approve of him and his passion for archery and drumming. Gray quickly realizes,
however, that his new school is possibly even worse than his old one. The bullies
are still there although they may have different faces and his inability to
make friends is also still present. The girl he has a crush on doesn’t seem to
notice him and his perfect older brother still overshadows him. Gray feels
trapped. He knows that his drumming will come to naught as his father will not
allow him to practice, his grades are slowly declining, and the bullies will
not let up. Gray knows there is only one thing he can do—take out all those who
are causing him misery. Maybe then he will have a shot at a happy life.
Critical
Evaluation
Endgame is one
of the most powerful, emotionally charged young adult school shooting novels in
publication today. Unlike other school shooting books the school shooter is
still alive when the novel takes place. In fact, the book is primarily told
from the shooter’s perspective unlike Give
a Boy a Gun and Shooter. However,
the main difference between Nancy Garden’s book and others like it is that Gray
is a completely likable, normal teenager. He doesn’t fall in with a bad crowd, take
unusual pleasure in shooting guns, or have an obsession with bleak poetry or
dark song lyrics. Instead, Gray is simply a fourteen-year-old seeking his father’s
elusive approval while muddling through an unkind school environment. Unlike
his golden boy brother Gray cannot seem to make many friends. Through no fault
of his own he’s mercilessly picked on by a subset of jocks while his two
passions, archery and drumming, are unusual enough that he cannot find many
other people interested in them.
Another difference between Endgame and other school shooting novels is that Gray had several
people reach out to him on numerous occasions. For example, his band teacher,
his brother, and his brother’s girlfriend all ask him at various times if he is
okay. In an interview with his attorney, Gray explains that he knew that if he
told anyone about the abuse he and his friend Ross suffered that they would be
dead meat (p. 120). As a result, readers will feel a gamut of emotions while
engrossed in the novel. Anger, of course, will be the most prominent as readers
will not only feel anger towards the jocks and Gray’s father but with Gray as
well. Because readers know that Gray received multiple opportunities to go to
authority figures about his bullying they will feel even more upset when Gray
decides that shooting people is his only option. Of course, readers will also
feel sad for Gray as his father is terrible and abusive. Ultimately, the book
will create conflicting emotions in readers as they will want to simultaneously
wish Gray a light sentence for the abuse he has suffered as well as a heavy one
for the tragedy he has caused.
Reader’s
Annotation
When fourteen-year-old Grey feels trapped both at home and
at school he feels like he has no choice but to kill the jock who is the main
source of his suffering.
About the
Author
Author of thirty-five books Nancy Garden is well-known in
literature circles as she has won the Robert B. Downs Award for Intellectual
Freedom, the Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement, and the
Katahdin Award for Lifetime Achievement amongst others. Annie on My Mind which details the story of two teens’ first
romance is perhaps her most famous (and controversial) book. Garden is no
stranger to censorship as Annie on My
Mind ranked number 44 on ALA’s 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books from
1990 to 1999.
To learn more about Nancy Garden visit her website here.
And also read Cynthia Leitich Smith’s interview with
Nancy Garden here.
Genre
Realistic fiction, School shooting novel
Readalikes
Shooter by
Walter Dean Myers
·
The aftermath of a school shooting is examined
through a series of interviews with the shooter’s friends
Quad by C.G.
Watson & Carrie Gordon Watson
·
Six students are trapped in the student store
while another student goes on a shooting spree.
Give a Boy a Gun by
Todd Strasser
·
Told through multiple perspectives teachers,
students, parents, and community members explore why two teens decided to hold
their fellow students hostage at a school dance.
Tags
14 yr. old, archery, bullying, Connecticut, guns, jock
culture, older brother, springer spaniel
Awards
Won/Lists On
2006—School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
2007—New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
Professional
Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
Note: Kirkus lists the age range of this book as 19-20
year-olds.
The Horn Book
Booktalk Ideas
Gray’s Life
·
Dad’s disapproval (12-13, 39-40, 87)
·
Jocks pick on him & there are double
standards (101)
·
He only had one friend & his dog
·
Dreams of becoming a drummer
Bibliotherapeutic
Usefulness
This book could be used to help people understand why and
how school shootings occur. It could be used to help victims of school
shootings heal or to create awareness about bullying.
Reading
Level/Interest Level
Reading Level: 5th grade
Interest Level: 9th-12th grade
These levels are according to AR Bookfinder
Challenge
Issues
This book includes the following potentially
controversial elements:
·
Profanity
·
Homosexual slurs
·
Father with anger issues
·
Bullying
·
Teacher that allows bullying
·
Physical fights
·
Discussion of virginity
·
Teen forced to drink paint
·
Teens deliberately run over a pet
·
Forced sexual assault
Librarians can point out that while the book contains
many disturbing elements they are necessary in order for the reader to
understand what made Gray snap. They also serve to illustrate the type of
behavior that some schools allow. Hopefully, the book will lead to
conversations about bullying and the responsibility of students, parents,
teachers, and administrators.
Why Was This
Included?
I included this book because it was required and because
I wanted to compare it to other school shooting books like Give a Boy a Gun and Shooter.
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