How to Be Safe

When a school shooting rocks a safe small Midwestern town, suspended high school teacher Anna Crawford is temporarily a suspect. What follows on the pages of this novel is Anna both unraveling and contemplating the concept of safety in our modern age. Unfortunately timely given the events of the last week, this book also deals head on--but artfully--with issues of fun control, mental health, sexism, and the phenomenon of angry boys committing unspeakable violence. With a deeply flawed protagonist whose actions at times make it difficult to really have her back,McAllister's second novel proves that he's a skilled writer, and this novel has immense depth and grapples with an all too common occurrence with compassion. Read it. Unless you don't like creative, well-written novels. Then maybe don't.

This book takes place in the aftermath of a school shooting and hits so close to home. Tom has his fingers on the vein of society, maybe even deeper than that. All I know is as a woman in this culture of ours he nailed my fears, my insecurities, and some of the most terrifying interactions I have experienced in regards to harassment. On top of that our devotion to guns; how we interpret violence. So much of what I read has actually happened. This book may bring controversy, but its a needed one that lays all our sins to bare.