The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb

 The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb

This book is about the Columbine school shootings from the perspective of an English teacher named Caelum Quirk and his wife Maureen, a school nurse. It also provides information on Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold including writing they did and how they spent their final hours. As a teacher, this is a gripping and very sad, too close to home read. The author does an incredible job with imagery and it really feels like you are in the cabinet in the library with Maureen as the shooting is taking place. 

While Maureen is handling tragedy firsthand, Caelum is vising his aunt in Three Rivers, Connecticut. While there, Caelum finds old diaries and newspaper clippings which reveal his own past. Caelum processes his past while dealing with the present, and aftermath of Columbine shootings, and tries to figure out a future.

This book is for anyone interested in American schools, senseless tragedy, or books that bridge the past and present. This is a highly emotional book.