If I could give this one more than 5 stars, I certainly would. My review may not do it justice…
Bea is enjoying 6th grade, for the most part. Sometimes, she gets distracted during lectures in class, but her teacher Mrs. Cannelli has firm but gentle ways to redirect her. She is a buddy to a kindergartener, Josie, a shy child who has difficulty interacting with others. The fact that Bea has cerebral palsy rarely slows her down for long; she’s learned over the years how to navigate tough situations. Then, on a sunny Monday morning, she’s unable to handle “getting down” by herself when an active shooter blasts into the building. Though untouched by the bullets, Bea’s life will be forever altered.
I loved that the importance of therapy for anyone affected by such a tragedy was stressed. The equine therapy that Bea takes part in was amazingly detailed (it soothed me as I read, even as I was wiping away tears).
Thanks to Netgalley for a digital copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are strictly my own.

A solid 4. I really like this one. The verse style will be a real winner with students. It’s lovely and accessible to readers who struggle. If I was teaching middle school this would become a lit circle choice immediately. Highly recommend for classroom use. There’s so many important discussions and activities you could do with this book as the basis. I will have it on my classroom shelf in high school, too. The representation of exceptional students feels very authentic, unlike other books I’ve read recently. The path to healing from trauma is laid out in a very informed and easy to understand way here. Students will come away with some ideas about how to help themselves and others begin to feel better.

I just finished this book, and I'm so emotional! Since I work in a middle school in East Tennessee, I am very familiar with The Covenant School shooting in Nashville, Tennessee. As I read the author's words, I kept picturing these events happening in my school...to my students. It broke my heart. This book needs to be read for so many reasons. First, students realize that it can happen to them. Second, students need to realize that the aftermath is traumatic and developing PTSD is a very real possibility. Third and finally, healing from an event such as this is long and often requires intense therapy. I am not sure if I am allowed to have this book in my classroom due to the Tennessee Age-Appropriate Materials Act. I have had to pull many books off my shelves. But I still believe it's important for students to read this book. I will certainly recommend this title to my students as well as my co workers. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. Excellent read!!!

Heart wrenching depiction of a school shooting and the aftermath. Something no one should go through and something is on everyone's mind nowadays. Gave me vibes of 1, 2, 3, All Eyes on Me.

I live in Nashville, and I will always remember the exact place I stood when I heard about the Covenant School shooting. I was standing in a different school on the other side of town. It felt like my heart stopped because I knew three children who attended Covenant. This book was heavy (as it should be), and it brought up a lot of emotions (as it should). I'm thankful Jamie put this into words.

"It's not just a cause for me; it is my life"

Bea is in sixth grade when a shooting happens in her school and, because she's in a wheelchair, cannot get down when her teacher tells her to. She has to deal with guilt and grief from surviving the shooting when others did not and is eventually aided by horse therapy.

Bea goes to church and a religious school. I was worried at the beginning that there would be a lot of religion, which is not something I enjoy, but there was only a bit.

I like that the focus was kept on Bea and did not really cover the community trying to recover or why the shooter did what they did.

This was heavy and I definitely teared up numerous times.

CW: school shooting, death from gun violence, death from childbirth

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital review copy.

The fact that there are children who have experienced what Bea has is heartbreaking.
Please Pay Attention’s look into the life of a girl struggling with the aftermath of a shooting at her school is well written and engaging, but difficult to read.
I would have reservations about placing it on classroom shelves for middle school students to find.

When tragedy strikes at her school, Bea is faced with the realization that she didn't really know what to do or how to save herself. Unfortunately, this sentiment is all too real for today's school age learners. Jamie Summer's story hits at the heart of the school violence crisis and poignantly shares the mindset of one of those students who finds her voice after the tragedy.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy to read and review. The book is written in free verse . Please don’t get it
Wrong from reading a synopsis of this book, it’s not a gory awful school shooting description and aftermath. It follows a student with cerebral palsy before and after a school shooting . It tells her side of the story and follows her through her PTSD and how she does or can’t deal with it . It was an easy quick read with big emotions from a students point of view .

Thank you Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing | Atheneum Books for Young Readers for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Summary: In Please Pay Attention, eighth-grader Bea, who has cerebral palsy, struggles with grief, survivor's guilt, and feeling invisible after a school shooting but finds healing and strength through therapeutic horseback riding and advocacy.

My review: *Please Pay Attention* is a powerful and necessary novel in verse that tackles the lasting trauma of school shootings through the eyes of Bea, a girl with cerebral palsy navigating grief, guilt, and healing. Sumner expertly balances raw emotion with hope, making this an important read for middle graders and the adults in their lives. I wish we didn’t need books like this, but since we do, I’m grateful for one as well-crafted and impactful as this.

Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Disability, Fiction, Grief, Poetry, School

Please Pay Attention is scheduled for publication on April 15, 2025, by Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing | Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

The cover caught my eye along with the title of the book. I like how the book was written, always easier to read when only a few words per line. The story is about a serious topic and had me really thinking. As an educator, you want to save all of your students from harm. And face it school shootings do happen. But I am also a hunter and know the safety of guns and my children were taught the safety at a young age. It is our source of food.
I like how Bea's caregiver sought out to do what is best for her. I like how the main character is in a wheelchair. This is often forgotten when tragedies happen.
I will be using this book for students to think about and reflect on what can happen and what can we do to help this situation along.
I will also be using this book to show students that bad things happen, but we need to keep living our life and move on. Things are scary everyday, but we can learn from these experiences.

This book was read and reviewed by my 12-year-old daughter who is dyslexic. She prefers books written in verse, because visually they are easier to follow. This was an excellent book for her, and I highly recommend it. The following is her review:

This book I might have stayed up reading it just mayyyyyybe.

The book had a perfect amount of suspense! The whole time I was wondering what was going to happen “was she going to make it?? “Or will she get wrapped up in her fears?” I like a book when you don't know what's going to happen.

I also liked how she never gets completely ok with her fears. It's not like oh now we have this safe space and the fear is all gone. (Though I don't want the main character to suffer.) It's perfect how she takes little steps (or should I say rolls) forwards or backwards. She's not suddenly taking a huge leap. As if she woke up one day and she was completely fine. But instead she wakes up in the night from nightmares of silver boots and the doors.

Bea is scared, she is scared that people will hurt her and she can't get away. She is scared that more loved ones will die, innocent people that she knew, that she loved, maybe she didn't realize how much she loved them until they were gone.

I highly recommend the book “Please Pay Attention” to anyone who likes “Out of My Mind,” and also to those who want to be at the edge of their seats the whole time.

The subject of this book is so heavy, but so important. Bea is a 6th grader who survives a school shooting. The shooting isn’t completely on page, but close enough so it would be a good read aloud (it’s in verse) with a middle schooler to open up the topic. In addition, Bea has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair so she was born a survivor and this figures importantly in the story.. The book’s second half is Bea’s journey as she begins to heal. Bring the tissues with you I needed them for sure.

5/5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing for an eARC of this book.

Thank you @simonkids and @NetGalley for the #gifted ARC. All thoughts are my own.

“Sorrynotsorry
if that was hard for you to read.
Trust me,
it was worse to live through.”

Please Pay Attention is a Middle Grade story written in verse about Bea, a resilient young lady who is in a wheelchair because of CP and a survivor of a school shooting. It’s a book with heavy but realistic topics and themes about grief, anxiety, processing/coping, and learning how to live after a traumatic event.

This was a tough read…there’s a lot to unpack in this book, especially considering it’s written for children. My heart broke for Bea as she went through so many tragic events in her life but loved the found family aspect of the story. I appreciated that we got to see how she handled the anxiety and stress from the trauma. I can see some kids really connecting with the character’s thoughts and feelings. It showed the importance of mental health and how it is normal to have these feelings after traumatic events.

The novel-in-verse structure and the short incomplete sentences was a great way to show how Bea’s brain was struggling while trying to process the horrific event.

As a teacher, this is one of my biggest fears and hate that this is even something we have to worry about and prepare for. I’m not necessarily one to think children should be sheltered from reality, however, this isn’t a book that I would recommend to a student due to the extremely heavy topics that could frighten some kids. Most people read to escape reality, including many children, but this one hits too close to reality. However, I do think it is very informative and would be a good book for a parent/guardian to read with their child to start conversations.

Every single person who works with children should read this book!!!! "Sorrynotsorry if that was hard for you to read. Trust me, it was worse to live through" The depth and range of emotions than Sumner has you experience is unmatched. I do not want to spoil anything so below are some quotes that made me stop and process/feel/live in Bea's body.

"If the government can make sidewalks with dips, stoplights with chirps, buses with lifts, so that we have an equal opportunity to participate in the world, then you can make sure we also have equal opportunity to survive"

"Some questions like 'Why do you see fireworks before you hear them?' have satisfying answers: because light travels faster than sound. But others life Why do people do what they do? Will never make sense"

"I am a survivor again, but it doesn't fell lucky at all"

"In the wild, horses can sync up their heartbeats so that when one senses danger, the whole herd can respond without even having to make a sound. I wish humans could do that, but we never notice what's going on until it is too late"

"Horses are intuitive creatures, you can't steer them like a car. They read your emotions and reflect them back to you like mirrors"

"I need to go back before the memory of the fall grows bigger than the fall itself"

"Because we all deserve some sweetness from a buddy on a Monday"

TW: school shooting
Loosely based on the author’s friend’s experience, this middle grade free verse story tells the before and after a school shooting from a 6th grader’s point of view. While some may argue that there weren’t enough details in the book or that this is too hard of an issue for this age group, because it is from a 6th grader’s point of view, and told in verse, I felt it was authentic and portrayed enough to get the emotional depth desired for readers. My only negative comments would be that the main character needs more counseling than riding horses, and the letters to the governor weren’t necessary. Side stories include that the main character is in a wheelchair and is adopted.

Please Pay Attention...but you should not have to. Bea's world is split into a Before and an After, after a school shooting that takes the lives of several students and faculty. This book, primarily for middle grade, but really for all of us, tackles a subject that should hit close to home if you've been living in the US. We all know, are, or have a kid, friend, or family who is part of a school, and school shootings and drills are only becoming more common.

I will certainly admit to crying and tearing up, not just for Bea, or Josie (her Little buddy), but for all of the students who have had to deal with or prepare to deal with this sort of fear, grief, and loss. I would highly recommend giving this a read, and plan to check out other books by Jamie Sumner.

thank you so very much to netgalley, author jamie sumner and simon and schuster for this absulutely fantastic ARC.

this book will stick with me for a while. while i discuss disabled isssues online, safety during events like this is far from my mind and now i ask myself, what do i do? in the back of my mind at every mall, event, ect i see it as a possibility that could happen, even as an adult this unsettled me and spoke to me specifically.

i want to shout this book from the rooftops and have everyone read it. it’s a must read and i am left to think on the impactful storytelling for a long time to follow.

Trigger Warning: school shooting, PTSD, grief

After a school shooting took the lives of some of her schoolmates and her teacher, Bea Coughlin must figure out how to grieve, live, and keep rolling forward. But as her community begins to rally and protest, Bea can’t get past the helplessness she felt in her wheelchair as others around her took cover.

When her foster mom signs her up for therapeutic horseback riding, Bea finally begins to feel like herself. As she begins to heal, she finds her voice and the courage to demand change.

In a way, books about school shootings make me so sad because it’s become almost a norm for children, especially in America, and to think that someone reading this book may very well feel seen is a bit bittersweet in a way. I wish we didn’t need a book like this, but I’m also glad that we had one.

Besides the overall storyline of the school shooting, this book really focuses on Bea feeling helpless in a situation she had no control over and how with the help from her family, and a horse, she was able to get her power back.

Overall, this book is worth the read for younger students to feel seen and to help those maybe overcome the tragedy of being in a school shooting. This would also be great for adults to read to understand what the younger generation is going through just to get an education.

*Thank you Atheneum Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

PLEASE PAY ATTENTION – by Jamie Sumner

‘There is a Before and an After for sixth grader Bea Coughlin. Before the shooting at her school that took the lives of her classmates and teacher and After, when she must figure out how to grieve, live, and keep rolling forward. But as her community rallies in a tidal wave of marches and speeches and protests, Bea can’t get past the helplessness she felt in her wheelchair as others around her took cover.’

‘Through the help of therapeutic horseback riding, Bea finally begins to feel like herself again. And as she heals, she finds her voice and the bravery to demand change.’

The story opens—by way of poetic verse—in the form of a letter written by sixth grader Bea Coughlin, with the preceding salutation, Dear, Sir…

‘You have to hear the whole story / so you understand. /So if you don’t mind /I politely demand, /for the next little bit, / that you please pay attention.’

Highly Recommend!

Reading Age: 10 years and up
Grade Level: 5 – 6

Scheduled For Release – April 15, 2025 (Though Subject To Change)

Thank you, NetGalley and Atheneum Books For Young Readers (Simon & Schuster Publishing), for providing me with an eBook of PLEASE PAY ATTENTION at the request of an honest review.