Find your next great read for National Reading Month by exploring my reviews of these YA books about school shootings and school violence.

When a fifteen-year-old boy takes a gun to school, kills multiple classmates, and wounds dozens of others, it’s hard to believe that he is a child. Someone’s child. Maybe even someone’s boyfriend. It’s hard to see anything beyond the pain of children who are dead or bleeding.

Over the last few decades, an entire body of literature has grown around the topic of school shootings, including YA, adult fiction, non-fiction, movies, and television. These stories helps us wrestle with something we cannot grasp. Why? How could this happen? Who is responsible for this? Novels in particular allow us to see the world from inside a character’s perspective, and through that connection, we may gain some small measure of understanding.

Perhaps that’s why so many novels about school shootings offer multiple points of view to readers: the girlfriend of the shooter, the mother of the perpetrator, the best friend of someone who was killed, even the shooter. There are so many perspectives in these situations.

The following novels about school violence give unique perspectives on these horrific tragedies. The characters are not one-dimensional, flat caricatures but offer rich portrayals of the human complexity behind each story.

Unquiet Riot by Khristina Chess

Best Friend of the Killer

“Best friends don’t label each other as crazy or rat each other out to adults.” ― Khristina Chess, quote from Unquiet Riot

Riley is not a psychopath.

It’s just that he was born unable to feel emotions. Is that person embarrassed or insecure? Suspicious or curious? It’s confusing when someone says, “Please don’t hate me,” but their face says, “You should definitely hate me for occupying the same planet right now because I wrecked your car.”

Riley’s life is filled with mind-numbing boredom until Henry arrives at his school. Henry’s amazing! Henry believes the world is populated by robots posing as humans. He believes the shadows in his room are monsters escaping from the electrical wires, and he sleeps with knives under his mattresses. For Riley, visiting Henry’s world is like being a tourist in a foreign land.

When police question Riley about Henry’s disappearance, Riley lies about their dangerous game and scrambles to save himself from being named accessory to mass murder. If Henry talks, Riley loses.

When someone feels nothing, do things like loyalty, friendship, and trust really matter?

Exhilarating and mind-bending! What I love most about Unquiet Riot is the slow unfolding of the friendship between the boys and the way Henry’s mental illness becomes revealed a little at a time. I worried for him. Riley is a great unreliable narrator who is witty and scary. This is the kind of authentic novel that really shows how factors like bullying, mental illness, and lack of teacher and parental involvement can allow an environment for a mass school violence event to occur.

You won’t want to miss this YA psychological thriller that shows unique perspectives of friends of the killer. Fans of My Sister Rosa will love this one.

We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver

Mother of the Shooter

“Had I catalogued the downsides of parenthood, ‘son might turn out to be a killer’ would never have turned up on the list.” ― Lionel Shriver, quote from We Need to Talk about Kevin

Told through a series of letters, this novel tells the story from a mother’s point of view. Eva isn’t a particularly likeable mother, and she portrays her son, Kevin, as a bad seed from birth. As events unfold, however, the reader is left wondering about the difference between nature and nurture. Was Kevin born a psychopath who would bring violence to his classmates? Or was he made into a sociopath because of the way he was raised and the failure of his mother to love him?

This novel includes a dramatic crescendo to the actual events at the school, and although I’ve read this book twice now, I could read it again and still find is as chilling as the first time. Shriver deftly manages to create nuanced characters that I simultaneously felt empathy for and utter disgust and loathing.

Though not a YA novel because of the viewpoint, don’t miss this devastatingly powerful book that tackles important issues of school violence, parenting, and the problem of silence.

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Girlfriend of the Shooter

“I was both the monster and the sad girl. I couldn't separate the two.” ― Jennifer Brown, quote from Hate List

This novel is told from the viewpoint of the school shooter’s girlfriend Valerie. She is shot trying to stop him from killing some of their classmates, but unfortunately, she is also implicated in his crime because they created a “hate list” of people and things that they hated.

The title of this book is ironic because Hate List is about forgiveness and healing. As the story unfolds, Valerie exchanges enemies for friends, and even in her own family, there is a softening around the hard edges. Both Nick and Valerie's father betray her; she loves them, but they do terrible things. In the end, she must reconcile herself with the ambiguity of human relationships. People are usually not who we think they are.

One thing I really liked about this novel is that the author allows us to see Valerie grieve her boyfriend’s death. The Nick she loved wasn’t the same person who killed their classmates, and the Nick she loved is gone.

Check out this thought-provoking and heartbreaking novel that wrestles with the aftermath of a school shooting and the impact on the people left behind.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Piccoult

Multiple Viewpoints

“If you gave someone your heart and they died, did they take it with them? Did you spend the rest of forever with a hole inside you that couldn't be filled?” ― Jodi Picoult, quote from Nineteen Minutes

Josie Cormier is a survivor of the school shooting and a former friend of the shooter. She knows how much he was bullied. In fact, her boyfriend Matt was one of the bullies. And now Matt’s dead.

Alex Cormier is the judge of the case, until she has to recuse herself because her daughter Josie is called as a witness for the defense.

Peter is the boy who went into the school with a gun and a list. Josie was on the list too, but her name was circled and noted, “Don’t Kill.”

Lucy is Peter’s mother. She’s already lost one son, and now she’s about to lose another.

Patrick is the first responding police officer at the school. He found Josie. At first he thought she was dead, but she wasn’t. And now he’s dating her mother.

As with all Jodi Piccoult novels, none of the circumstances are black and white or one-dimensional. There are many individuals involved, and it’s messy. It’s hard to find someone to blame because the tragedy pulls everyone in.

If you are looking for a classic book about school shootings with unique perspectives, you will love Nineteen Minutes.

That’s Not What Happened by Jodi Keplinger

Best Friend of Deceased Victim

“It’s a good story. And you know what people like way more than the truth? A good story.“ ― Jodi Keplinger, quote from That’s Not What Happened

This novel has an interesting approach to viewpoint by showing the reader how the victims lose their voices and their ability to tell their side of the story. The concept is that Lee’s best friend died during a school shooting, and because she was wearing a cross and proclaimed her faith to her assailant, she became a martyr. Except, that’s not the truth.

As a trauma survivor, Lee is not an especially likeable protagonist. Her motives for telling the truth and pushing the others to do so are muddy at times, and I struggled to have emotional investment in her character. At the same time, the concept of this story makes That’s Not What Happened an important title in the collection of novels about high school mass shootings.

There are so many viewpoints in these tragedies. Even the viewpoints of the victims.

This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

Sister of Shooter, Other Students

I wanted to like this book more. The premise and structure holds such promise, and the pacing was good. However, I just couldn't care enough about the characters. It felt like the author was trying to insert too many issues into one story without developing any of them enough for the reader to be fully invested.

You may feel differently. Still, this classic YA book about school shootings has enough popularity and buzz that I offer it in my list for consideration so you can make up your own mind.

Other YA Books about School Shootings

What about you? There are many other books about school shootings. You will find some great lists on Goodreads (links): School Shooting Fiction (82 books) and School Shooting Books (149). You might also be interested in my post, Other Good Reads, which has a comprehensive list of reviews of YA books by type of tough topic, including eating disorders, substance abuse, mental illness, and others.

Do you have any other recommendations to add to mine?

Khristina Chess is the award-winning author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. You can find her on Amazon, Goodreads, and Twitter as an active daily contributor in the #5amwritersclub.