5. A Mother's Reckoning

A Mother's Reckoning, Cue Klebod. 2016.

A Mother's Reckoning (Lucy): As if I wasn't already in constant worry about what is going on for my children and other teens, this book was shocking in the absolute lack of connection one of the Columbine shooters had with his family. Heartbreaking, it did offer some insight into suicide prevention, depression, and the inner lives of teenagers. There wasn't really enough material for a whole book, it was repetitive in places. A good editing could have made it 100 pages shorter and much stronger. The best part was probably the intro by Far From the Tree author Andrew Solomon. Rather than foreshadowing the story, it should have had a spoiler alert because even though we might all think we know the story from the press it got, this book's perspective was unique.  Probably a good book for anyone living or working with teens, but I can't really give it a recommend in general.
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Next up: The School of Essential Ingredients, but now that I am back at work after winter break and a symposium, the pace is going to slow down quite a bit.

Recommended by high school senior Lucy, it was technically the 51st suggestion until one got disqualified when I found out it was a duplicate author.

​Comments:
Me: This looks so good, but I went in order of suggestions being posted & confirmed & this is #51! So, maybe next year or if I finish early, I’ll add this.
Also me: This book was heartbreaking, but so good. It really makes you think about how you treat people.

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