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Alys's whole world was comprised of the history project that was due, her upcoming violin audition, being held tightly in the arms of her boyfriend, Ben, and laughing with her best friend, Delilah. At least it was - until she found herself on the wrong end of a shotgun in the school library. Her suburban high school had become one of those places you hear about on the news - a place where some disaffected youth decided to end it all and take as many of his teachers and classmates with him as he could. Except, in this story, that youth was Alys's own brother, Luke. He killed fifteen others and himself, but spared her - though she'll never know why.
Alys's downward spiral begins instantly, and there seems to be no bottom. A heartbreaking and beautifully told story.
"A captivating portrait of a family torn apart by jealousy and neglect." - School Library Journal
"Overall, a moving, insightful treatment of a difficult and timely topic. Ages 14-18." - Kirkus
"While this is a thriller only in the opening, Banash's expressive language keeps the internally focused narrative compelling. Despite the dark subject, Banash ends on a hopeful note for Alys' future." - Booklist
This information about Silent Alarm was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Jennifer Banash lives and writes in Los Angeles, California.
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