This Is Where It Ends

November 2, 2015
Sometimes the most terrifying horrors are not those involving monsters out of fantasy but those taken straight from today’s headlines. Nijkamp’s debut follows four high school students on their first day of the spring semester in Opportunity, Ala. Over the course of 54 minutes—the amount of time a gunman holds their school hostage—their lives collide. Each of the four has an intimate connection to the shooter, and all must find a way to face the unfolding tragedy. While Claire views the event from outside the school, Autumn, Sylv, and Tomás are on the front lines. Love, loyalty, bravery, and loss meld into a chaotic, heart-wrenching mélange of issues that unite some and divide others. A highly diverse cast of characters, paired with vivid imagery and close attention to detail, set the stage for an engrossing, unrelenting tale. The starkly chilling realism and themes of abuse, death, and assault, among others, may prove too much for younger or sensitive readers, but the story unquestionably leaves an indelible mark. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jennifer Udden, Donald Maass Literary Agency.

October 15, 2015
A minute-by-minute account of mass murder at a high school by a former student. Four students from a range of different backgrounds at Alabama's Opportunity High, all of whom have a history with Tyler, the gunman, take turns telling this harrowing story in the first person. They include his sister, Autumn, and her clandestine girlfriend, Sylv, who have only each other for solace as the home lives of both are in upheaval. Tomas, Sylv's brother, recounts his and his friend Fareed's desperate efforts to help from outside the school's auditorium, where their fellow students and teachers are locked in with Tyler as he picks them off one by one. Finally, Claire, Tyler's ex-girlfriend, realistically agonizes over what to do when she and a few others outside running track realize that the gunshots they hear are coming from inside the school. Grounded in the present, the story makes effective use of flashbacks that lay bare the pain and deception that have led up to the day's horror. The language can occasionally feel a bit melodramatic, with lines like "we're fighting for hope and a thousand tomorrows," but this is a minor side note to this compelling story of terror, betrayal, and heroism. This brutal, emotionally charged novel will grip readers and leave them brokenhearted. (Fiction. 14-18)

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November 1, 2015

Gr 8 Up-It's the start of the spring semester at Opportunity High School in Opportunity, AL, and the school day is progressing as normal-until one revenge-minded student brings violence to this sleepy, close-knit community. This novel takes place over the course of 54 tense minutes, as four main characters (all of whom also conveniently have siblings affected by the shooting) narrate their harrowing experiences and consider their relationships with the shooter. Nijkamp populates Opportunity High School with a diverse representation of students, enriching the book with their varied experiences and reactions to the horrifying turn of events. The four main narratives are joined by text messages, tweets, and blog entries interspersed throughout, allowing for more viewpoints and commentary without narrative clutter. Although the work is devastating, it offers a small moment of optimism and closure at the end without resorting to an incongruous tidy ending. VERDICT With a thrilling narrative, topical subject matter, and diverse characters, this is a first purchase for libraries serving teens.-Susannah Goldstein, Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York City

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2015
Grades 9-12 Nijkamp's debut adds to the growing list of novels about school shootings. As Opportunity, Alabama, high-schoolers are welcomed in for a new school year, an armed male student locks the student body inside the auditorium, and then the carnage begins. The subsequent 54 minutes unfold with breathless pacing in the alternating voices of characters who know the shooter: Claire, the track star and former girlfriend of the shooter, who's outside when the shooting begins; Tomas, a troublemaker who rises to the occasion; Autumn, a promising dancer and the shooter's sister; and Sylv, a straight-A student, who is Autumn's closeted girlfriend and Tomas' twin sister. Although the shooter's motivation could have been more developed and the slow response times of authorities require a suspension of disbelief, Nijkamp's story sadly reflects a very real concern in contemporary America. Strong characterizations capture diversity in gender, race, ability, and sexuality. Even reluctant readers will anxiously pursue the ending, unable to turn away from the tragedy and in desperate hope for a resolution, knowing there cannot be a happy ending.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

March 1, 2016
It is the first day of the spring semester at Alabama's Opportunity High, and for those locked inside its auditorium, it is the darkest day of their lives. Four different students give their accounts of a harrowing fifty-four minutes as former student Tyler opens fire on the morning assembly with an executioner's intent and a hunter's precision. Autumn, Tyler's sister, has dreamed of nothing but dance and escape from Opportunity since their mother's death; her girlfriend Sylv, previously a victim of Tyler's rage, has been feeling helpless as her own home life falls apart. Both watch horrified as Tyler indicts the entire school and picks off their classmates and teachers one by one. Outside, Sylv's twin brother Tomas desperately tries to free the trapped students, terrified that he will, once again, fail to protect his sister from Tyler; and Claire, Tyler's ex-girlfriend, having heard the gunshots from track practice, agonizes over her role in fueling Tyler's hate. With narration firmly rooted in the moment and smooth transitions in and out of flashbacks, each first-person account reveals an intricate web of betrayal and pain that connects the four to Tyler and to the horror he has unleashed. Although the alternation among four perspectives can be disorienting, such disorientation is entirely appropriate amidst the novel's brutality and heartbreak. anastasia m. collins

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)