Endgame

I picked up this book partially for the cover. It looked interesting, and I'm a huge fan of books that are about hostage situations, guns, and kidnappings. So I thought this book would just give the day of the shooting, but no. It showed how it happened, him, why he did it, and that he really is a good kid. I was amazed by it. Great book...definetly read it

I'd just like to say that the author who supposedly wrote the other book that is similar to Endgame ought to shut up. It's wrong to rate a book with 1 star when you haven't even read it!!! I don't think Nancy Garden woke up one day and said, "You know, I should copy the author of Shooter. Yeah, that's a great idea." By the way, who says that you didn't copy Nancy Garden?

What a great YA book. It kept my attention and I was as surprised at the ending as the main character. I highly recommend it.

"It's my hope that Gray's story will help both kids and adults think seriously about bullying, and realize that stopping bullying needs to be a priority in our schools. I also hope that it will perhaps lead some readers to empathize with Gray --- and to thereby understand that people of any age who strike out at others have often been victims themselves." - Nancy Garden Nancy Garden is the recipient of the 2003 Margaret A. Edwards Award --- an honor that celebrates an author's lifetime contribution in writing for young adults. She has published more than 30 books, and her latest novel, ENDGAME, is one of her best yet. Moved by the horrific events that transpired at Columbine, Garden responded by writing a novel that gets inside the head of a young boy like Eric Harris or Dylan Klebold (the Columbine shooters) and attempts to explain both the "how" and the "why" behind his irreparable actions. Intensely powerful, heartbreaking and frighteningly relevant, ENDGAME should be made required reading and discussed in both classrooms and at home. The novel opens with 15-year-old Gray Wilton (he was 14 at the time of the shooting) sitting in his cell in a juvenile detention center. His lawyer is interviewing him in preparation for the trial in order to get his side of the story of the events that transpired. As the conversation progresses, Sam Falco (Gray's lawyer) pokes and prods Gray with questions, and Gray answers them as if he has nothing to lose. He killed four of his classmates and is proud of his accomplishments. What is the point of holding anything back just because he was caught before he could blow his own brains out like he originally planned? As Gray relays the details of the weeks/months leading up to the shooting, readers are given a fly-on-the-wall's view of the relentless torture and humiliation that he was forced to endure both at his new school and at home. Ever since he could remember, Gray had been the object of teasing by boys who were older and bigger than him. At Greenford High, the situation was no different. Zorro and Johnson, two of the star players for the Varsity football team, picked him out immediately and proceeded to make fun of him, push him around, and beat him up just for the fun of it (including the time they forced him to drink black paint and when they tried to force him to give his friend oral sex in the locker room shower). They went so far as to destroy Gray's cherished drums (though Gray could never prove it) and run over his beloved dog, Barker, while out joy-riding one night with friends. Although Gray tried to "take it" at first, Zorro and his meathead friends clearly pushed Gray to the breaking point. At home, circumstances weren't any better. His older brother, Peter, was picture-perfect and idolized by his father as the son he'd always wanted to have. His mother was basically a wallflower --- nice and semi-supportive of Gray but spineless when it came to standing up to her husband (mostly in matters con

Grayson "Gray" Wilton is a walking time bomb. He lives in the shadow of his brother, Peter, 17 ("Perfect Peter") and punitive father. The boy has a talent for drums and song writing and spends his free time playing his drums and composing songs. Gray's family was forced to leave their home in Massachusetts after Gray pulled a knife on two boys who had been harassing him. Forced to relocate to the small town of Greenford, Connecticut, Gray runs into many of the same problems. He can never count on recourse from his punitive father and the boy's mother appears to be an echo, shadow and reflection with no real influence. Even the boy's teachers appear ineffectual; they in effect look the other way when Gray is being bullied. Gray does make one friend at Greenford. Ross shares Gray's interest in computers and allows Gray to play on his since Gray's father won't allow him to use the home computer. The boys try to stick together after they become targeted by Zorro and Johnson, two football players who hound the boys mercilessly. They destroy Gray's drums so he can't play them in the Christmas pageant; they force Gray to drink paint; kill his dog; gang up on Gray in the halls and locker room. The coach condones the jocks; they are the town's pride and have been fed a sense of entitlement. Matters intensify; Gray and Ross are sexually traumatized during the latter part of the year. One wonders why they don't tell a parent/teacher/some other trusted person about the level of abuse and ridicule they are forced to endure. They go out of their way to avoid the jocks, including entering the school via the basement so as to avoid them. You just want to kick Gray's father in the shins for blaming Gray for their dog's death. The boorish oaf goes so far as to say that Gray should have been run over instead. His brand of counseling is to tell the boy to "toughen up" and take ribbings like a man. What sexist baloney! Gray was being targeted and harassed to the point of danger and he could not even count on his own father for protection. Gray's father seems determined to take away the things Gray loves most. He limits the time Gray is allowed to play his drums; forces Gray to use special practice pads to muffle the sound; forces him to go hunting against his will and is generally boorish, rigid and unreasonable. The story is intense; jarring; cutting edge and culminates in a round of shots. Gray's life is out of control and, once he commits a desperate act is forced to examine the consequence. This is truly one of the best cutting edge books I've read. The characters are plausible and Gray's attorney Mr. Falco is a truly exemplary character. Readers can't help being moved by the efforts of this one man. Adam Meyers' "The Last Domino" is an excellent companion book to this one.