Parkland: Birth of a Movement – The Inspiring New York Times Bestseller About Teenage Survivors Who Sparked Lasting Change

by Dave Cullen

The New York Times bestselling author of Columbine offers a deeply moving account of the extraordinary teenage survivors of the Parkland shooting who pushed back against the NRA and Congressional leaders and launched the singular grassroots March for Our Lives movement.

Emma Gonzalez called BS. David Hogg called out Adult America. The uprising had begun. Cameron Kasky immediately recruited a colorful band of theatre kids and rising activists and brought them together in his living room to map out a movement. Four days after escaping Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, two dozen extraordinary kids announced the audacious March for Our Lives. A month later, it was the fourth largest protest in American history.

Dave Cullen, who has been reporting on the epidemic of school shootings for two decades, takes us along on the students’ nine-month odyssey to the midterms and beyond. With unrivaled access to their friends and families, meetings and homes, he pulls back the curtain to reveal intimate portraits of the quirky, playful organizers that have taken the nation by storm.

Cullen brings us onto the bus for the Road to Change tour showing us how these kids seized an opportunity. They hit the highway to organize the young activist groups mushrooming across America in their image. Rattled but undeterred, they pressed on in gun country even as adversaries armed with assault weapons tailed them across Texas and Utah trying to scare them off.

The Parkland students are genuinely candid about their experiences. We see them cope with shattered friendships and PTSD, along with the normal day-to-day struggles of school, including AP exams and college acceptances. Yet, with the idealism of youth they are mostly bubbling with fresh ideas. As victims refusing victimhood, they continue to devise clever new tactics to stir their generation to action while building a powerhouse network to match the NRA’s.

This spell-binding book is a testament to change and a perceptive examination of a pivotal moment in American culture. After two decades of adult hand-wringing, the MFOL kids are mapping a way out. They see a long road ahead, a generational struggle to save every kid of every color from the ravages of gun violence in America. Parkland is a story of staggering empowerment and hope, told through the wildly creative and wickedly funny voices of a group of remarkable kids.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Politics, History, Audiobook, Crime, Social Justice

385 pages, Hardcover

First published February 12, 2019

About the author

Dave Cullen wrote the definitive account of COLUMBINE, plus PARKLAND: BIRTH OF A MOVEMENT, both New York Times bestsellers. The former gay infantry grunt is completing a book on two gay soldiers 25 years in the making. It depicts the arc of the gay rights struggle through the lens of two extraordinary lives — which he has been immersed in since 2000.

​Columbine has made two lists of the best 25 and 30 books of the quarter century, over a dozen Best True Crime Books of All Time, won several major awards, including the Edgar, Goodreads Choice Award, and Barnes & Noble Discover Award, and made 2 dozen Best of 2009 lists. It has been translated into nine languages.​

Dave has written for New York Times, Atlantic, Vanity Fair, London Times, Politico, Guardian, Washington Post, New Republic, BuzzFeed, etc., and has appeared on most of the major networks in the US, and across Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. He lives in Chicago and is uncle to 11 cool humans and 1 adorable corgi, Bobby Sneakers.

Reviews

[Emily May · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are strains of sadness woven into this story, but this is not an account of grief. These kids chose a story of hope.

This is such a beautiful piece of journalism. I love how Cullen puts so much of himself into his work and treats the subjects he tackles, as well as the people he meets and talks with along the way, with such sensitivity and empathy.

Some people obviously rated this book one star without reading it because they think it is about taking away their guns. Actually, it's not really about that at all. While issues of gun control are natural discussions to rise out of this book and the events it documents, it is really about an incredibly inspirational group of young people who finally said enough is enough. This book is about them.

Cullen wasn't sure if he wanted to get involved in the subject of school shootings again. After he published Columbine, he was left with secondary PTSD and had to distance himself from victims' stories for his own mental health. But Parkland was not just another school shooting; it was the start of something much bigger. Out of it grew the March For Our Lives demonstration, led by the kids most affected by the lack of change. After shootings, adults typically freaked out and talked about gun control for a while before it quieted down again. This time was different. This time the kids were standing up and saying "Please stop killing us."

Cullen got to know these kids really well. They welcomed him into their lives and here he recreates them on the page as fleshed-out, quirky, flawed, young humans. Their drive to make a better world weathers disdain and false rumours. All to get a few basic laws passed that seem like common sense to me. Well, they actually seem conservative to me.

I won't pretend to understand the gun debate in America. I don't mean that in a judgmental way-- I mean I literally don't understand it because I have grown up with a completely different mindset. I come from a country that has had one school shooting - the Dunblane massacre of 1996 - which preceded a swift ban on all handguns. 17 people died, they changed the law, and civilians gave up their guns. We now have one of the lowest rates of gun homicides in the world. I am not old enough to remember a time when people owned guns and I must admit it shocked me when I learned that in the U.S. civilians have access to devices that can kill someone with the flick of a trigger. Guns were always scary things that existed in movies; they were never a part of my "real life".

So I am definitely an outsider on this issue, but even I felt completely drawn into the March For Our Lives movement. Cullen really is a wonderful writer and he brings a lot of kindness to his work. Despite what some will assume, he doesn't push his own opinions on gun laws. Instead, he narrates a story and lets the conclusions reveal themselves. A great book.

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[Will Byrnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

It became clear quickly that suburban kids feared violence inside their school—once in a lifetime, but horrific—and the Chicago kids feared violence getting there. At the bus stop on their porch, walking out of church. It could happen anywhere, and it did… Martin Luther King had preached six principles of nonviolence…The Parkland kids were embarking on #4: “Suffering can educate and transform.”

After the seminal Columbine shootings in 1999, Dave Cullen undertook to research the event deeply, to find out what the truth was of the shooters, their motivations, planning, and outcomes, and to dispel the many false notions that had made their way through the media like a Russian virus after the event. In a way it was a whodunit, and a whydunit. His book, Columbine, was an in-depth historical look, examining what had happened, after the fact. This included following up with many of those who survived the attack, for years after.


Dave Cullen - image from GR

Columbine and Parkland may have been similar events, but they are very different books. This time, with his reputation as the go-to reporter on stories having to do with mass-shootings, particularly mass school-shootings, Cullen had the credentials to ask the Parkland survivors for access as they worked through it all. Four days after the shooting he called, and spoke with the entire early MFOL (March For Our Lives) group on speakerphone. The next day he was there. Cullen proceeded to cover the emerging stories in person, when possible, and by phone, on-line, and via diverse media, when not, continuing through 2018. What he has produced is a you-are-there account of the birth of a movement.

Archbishop [Desmond] Tutu described March for Our Lives as one of the most significant youth movements in living memory. “The peaceful campaign to demand safe schools and communities and the eradication of gun violence is reminiscent of other great peace movements in history,” he said. “I am in awe of these children, whose powerful message is amplified by their youthful energy and an unshakable belief that children can—no, must—improve their own futures.

One could do worse, if looking at how to begin a movement, than to pore through Cullen’s reporting, as the kids of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School pivot from the physical and emotional carnage of a brutal armed attack on their school to organizing a regional, then national call for gun sanity.

Parkland tells two stories, the personal actions of the teenagers involved and the broader view of the movement that they helped solidify. Cullen offers not only a look at some of the central people who built this movement, Emma Gonzalez, Jackie Corin, Alex Wind, David Hogg, Cameron Kasky, Dylan Baierlein, and others, but shows how their sudden rise to fame impacted both their movement and them, personally.

There are just so many hours in a day. In very concrete ways, committing large swaths of one’s time to political action meant that there was less time for other parts of what had been their lives. Extracurriculars was the obvious first hit. Theater, music, sports all suffered. But academic ambitions were close behind. Tough to keep up with multiple AP classes, for example, if you are stretched thin organizing a national political bus tour. And tough to maintain perfect grades when you keep getting home on the red-eye after an interview in LA or New York. Friendships suffered, or at the very least shifted. If you were one of the cool kids, but were now hanging out with the nerds, odds are you would get ditched. Of course, the upside is that you replace as friends a bunch of people of low value with people who are actually worth something. And you might imagine that, this being an adolescent-rich environment, jealousy might rear its ugly head. For example, Emma Gonzalez was transformed from just one of the kids at school to a national icon, as Emma and the other MFOL leaders were regularly having meetings with national figures and celebrities to discuss gun control. Might just make the other kids think you have gotten too big for your britches. Some of the organizers even dropped out of school to complete their studies on line. And that does not even begin to touch on PTSD, or death threats.

Hogg, in fact, was frequently not on the bus but traveling separately in a black SUV accompanied by bodyguards. If he were a politician, one of the staffers told me, the intensity of interest in him would merit 24-hour Secret Service surveillance. “We get people armed to the teeth showing up and saying, ‘Where’s David Hogg?’ ” Deitsch told me. An outfit called the Utah Gun Exchange had been following the kids on tour all summer — on what it called a pro–Second Amendment “freedom tour” — sometimes in an armored vehicle that looks like a tank with a machine-gun turret.
The NRA seems to take Hogg’s existence as an affront, having tweeted out his name and whereabouts and inciting its approximately 5 million members by perpetuating the falsehood that the Parkland kids want to roll back the Second Amendment. Hogg’s mother, Rebecca Boldrick, says that in June she received a letter in the mail that read, “Fuck with the NRA, and you’ll be DOA.” - from Lisa Miller’s New York Magazine article, David Hogg, After Parkland

What does it take to build a movement? Why did this movement catch on, and grow? Was it a propitious confluence of events, right time, right place? If Parkland had happened a year or two years earlier, would it have had the same impact? Would the MFOL movement have gained the traction it has garnered?


The March for Our Lives rally in DC drew 800,000, the largest rally crowd in DC history – image from USA Today

The core group was blessed with a considerable concentration of talent. One element was media savvy. Just three days after the shooting, Emma’s ”We call B.S.”speech was a call to…well…arms, a call for those being victimized by our national gun fetish to stand up and demand that the adults in the nation start behaving like they are actually grown-ups, a call to legislators to act. It resonated, and went viral. Cameron came up with the #NeverAgain hashtag (although it had been notably used before) as an appropriate motif for the movement. He was also a natural performer, who had been comfortable in stage settings in front of adults since he was seven. David Hogg’s realtime video of the shooting from inside the school during the attack gained the shooting even more national coverage than it might otherwise have gotten. Jackie Corin was preternaturally adept at organizing the details of the movement, coping with scheduling, getting permissions, learning who needed to be contacted, all the office-manager-plus-organization-leader skills that are totally required but rarely available.

Less than a week after creating her Twitter account, Emma would surpass a million followers—about double that of the NRA. By the summer, Cameron would amass 400,000 followers, David twice that, and Emma at 1.6 million towered over them all.

Another element was the availability of supportive adults. This began, of course, with the parents of the organizers, but also some parents of the shooting victims. And beyond the immediate there was input from interested adults from outside the area, people able to offer not only money but media access. George Clooney got in touch, offering not only a sizeable contribution, but a connection to a high-end PR agency. State and national political people got involved as well. One particularly meaningful connection was made with the Peace Warriors in Chicago, local activists whose work in trying to fend off violence dovetailed particularly well with the Parklanders. The relatively wealthy suburban kids were worried about violence in their schools. The Peace Warriors lived in a world in which getting to and from school unharmed was the challenge. The joining of the school safety movement with an urban gun safety movement, was seminal, changing the focus of the Parklanders from school safety to gun safety. Bet you did not hear much about that in the papers.

The Peace Warriors arrived at just the right moment. They helped shape the MFOL policy agenda and the tenor of their approach. They all kept talking: by email, phone, and text. The Parkland kids peppered the Peace Warriors with questions about the six principles, and then burrowed deeper on their own. The more they learned, the more they found it was like listening to themselves—a better, wiser version of the selves they were fumbling toward. How liberating to discover Martin Luther King Jr. had already done all that work. Brilliantly. He had drawn from Gandhi, and it was amazing how well the principles stood up across time, space, and cultures.

The stages involved in the group’s growth and how the movement shifted focus makes for fascinating reading. Beginning with the initial rally, growing to larger memorials, then a rally at the state capital, then the nation’s capital, then a cross country bus tour in Summer 2018, from coverage in local news media to national, even global news coverage. Cullen gives us enough without overwhelming with too much detail on the challenges involved in the logistics of making rallies, tours, and marches happen, and the upsides and downsides of ongoing national exposure. Some of MFOLs core leaders even decided to keep away from any coverage that might focus on personal portrayals, as media stardom was seen as distracting from the group’s message.


Emma Gonzalez is distraught while giving her “We Call B.S” speech in Fort Lauderdale days after the shooting – image from the NY Times

I do not really have any gripes about the book. It was well written, engaging, informative and moving. It also offers up the odd surprise here and there, like the source of national disunity over using April 20th, the date of the Columbine attack, as the day for a national student walkout.

As for why this movement caught fire when it did, the jury is out. It may have to do with the national backlash against the excesses of the Trump-led right, disgust, finally, with expressions of ��thoughts and prayers” absent any attempt to address the underlying problem. But yeah, it definitely helps that the victims were mostly white kids in a well-to-do suburb. Of course, this is hardly the first time mostly white suburban children have been so murdered. But maybe it was a final straw. In a way this strikes me as an echo of larger social trends. As the middle class becomes more and more squeezed by flat wages, declining benefits, increasing taxes (it is not our taxes that get cut), and a threatened safety net, the miseries that have long troubled working-class people, particularly urban people of color, have been, more and more, visited on middle class white people. (See Automating Inequality) Just as the opioid epidemic was once a feeder of three-strikes legislation, and widespread carnage, the current opioid crisis, the one visited on more and more white people, portrays addiction as less a failure of personal morality and more a manifestation of biological addiction, or at the very least, predisposition. When black people are getting shot in ghettoes, it’s business as normal, but when white kids are getting mowed down in their schools, it is a national crisis.

It will be interesting to see how the MFOL movement sustains going forward. While there is no certainty of success, in the long or short terms, there is cause for hope. Even though changes in gun regulations MFOL wrested from Florida lawmakers were modest, getting any change at all was a huge success. Wins, of any sort, have been as rare as brave legislators, and this definitely counted as a win. The road ahead, though, remains long, hard, and fraught with impediments and peril. And people keep dying early, wasteful deaths. In his Broadway show one night in Summer 2018, Bruce Springsteen

reached back fifty years, and drew a straight line to Martin Luther King Jr., assuring us that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but tends toward justice”—but adding a stern corollary” “That arc doesn’t bend on its own.” Bending it takes a whole lot of us, bending in with every ounce of strength we’ve got.

Review first posted – February 22, 2019

Publication date – February 12, 2019


==========In the summer of 2019 GR reduced the allowable review size by 25%, from 20,000 to 15,000 characters. In order to accommodate the text beyond that I usually move it to the comments section directly below, which I did. However, in 2021, GR further constrained reviewers by banning external links from comments, so to see the full EXTRA STUFF part of this review you will have to continue on to my site, Coot’s Reviews, where the review is posted in its entirety.

[jv poore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not about the tragedy on February 14th 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas.

Instead, it is about all that the student activists accomplished in the following year and how they did it. I felt like I’d followed this story pretty closely, but I was stunned by some of the things I learned. And those things are the reasons I want people to read this book.

I think most folks will be as shocked as I was to find out how ATF background checks are conducted, and why it is that way.

I was floored by all that these students accomplished over one summer and I was delighted to see their efforts to include other young activist groups that were not receiving the same media attention, such as Black Lives Matter, BRAVE & The Peace Warriors.

As expected, being familiar with Mr. Cullen's work, Parkland is thoughtful and thought-provoking. Honest, yet hopeful and inspiring.

I simply had to share this with "my" students. I took it in this week, and donated my copy to their classroom library. There was so much interest, I'm going to add a couple more copies soon. Everyone that wishes to read Parkland should have that opportunity.

[Elyse Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook ....Read by the author, Dave Cullen

“PRAY FOR MY SCHOOL”
“MAKE IT STOP”
“DO NOTHING - and - NOTHING WILL CHANGE”
“THIS NEEDS TO BE THE END”
“PLEASE HELP!”

February 14, 2018....a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School..... ( often called MSD), killing 17 students and staff members - injuring 17 others. THE DEADLIEST SHOOTING at a High School in United States history - surpassing the Columbine High School massacre.

This book is a great tribute to the students who died at MSD a year ago, to the student & staff survivors - family - friends - community - the global world at large - and an acknowledgement to the young activists who soared like a rocket demanding AMERICA DO SOMETHING!!!

And these kids DID DO SOMETHING...
Five weeks after the shooting these kids created a MASSIVE protest in Washington standing for GUN CONTOL ...
which they called “March for our Lives”.

Dave Cullen suffered two bouts of secondary PTSD while writing about the tragedy of Columbine. He shares about it in this book. I was deeply moved at his vulnerability.
He was never going to involve himself again. I suddenly felt sad thinking of the dichotomy about Dave Cullen’s work in the world.
While trying to help the world understand why a couple of punk- student shooters killed 12 students and one teacher - ( the best well-researched book on ‘Columbine’), I hadn’t even thought about the devastating toll it took on Dave’s mental health. We also learn why Dave Cullen jumped into action again. His inspiration became mine too.
Dave Cullen shares how he knew something very different was going on in Parkland, Florida. STUDENTS TOOK CHARGE...instantly - the SAME NIGHT as the shootings.
The students outrage - anger - tears - lack of ability to sleep - sent them in action - starting with spilling their guts on social media....asking for help.
Parents of victims and the survivors have been a major part of the gun violence conversation since the day of the shooting.

I knew about ‘some’ actions students took at Parkland a year ago - I remembered the student speeches - rallies - plans for a student strike walk out....
but what I didn’t know were the intimate - specific - stories we learn from specific students.

I didn’t know how the day - days - months - played out: from logistics and funding. I certainly didn’t know the personal stories of the student activists. In some cases their fighting for justice and human rights was incredibly healing with their own past tragedies.

Student *David Hogg* became a prominent spokesman for “March for Our Lives”....a group that pushed for stronger gun laws. He and his younger sister, Lauren wrote a book “NeverAgain”...A New Generation Draws the line.

Student *Emma Gonzalez* became known for her “We Call B.S. speech criticizing politician who accept money from the national rifle Association, which she gave days after the shooting during a Fort Lauderdale rally.
She and David were featured on Time magazine. They spent the summer as part of “The Road To Change” tour, which registered young voters around the country.
Several other amazing student leaders we get to know in this book.

Parents whose children died in the shootings ....became advocates for gun control and other liberal causes as well.

I felt everything about the day of the shootings with so much grief - ....the screaming- fears - terrifying anxiety - bleeding bodies - dead bodies - running - hiding - fearful for special needs kids - the lockdown - the separation between parents and their kids ( one mom was going crazy getting the news while on a cruise vacation and couldn’t get back to her child for a couple more days)....

Dave Cullen is an absolute mensch of a human being. We are blessed to have him doing all that he does. It’s amazing he got this book out in a year. He’s a skillful compassionate humanitarian....doing some of the hardest work in the world.

I’m glad Dave doesn’t mention the killer in this book. I get it - it’s not the right flavor this time around. I won’t mention the killers name either.

This book solidifies for me the possibilities of MOVING FORWARD - THE POWER of TAKING ACTION -
We hear these kids messages - ( parents, educators, political leaders, and other followers around the ‘world’)......
Dave showed us their anger, sadness, hope, fight for change.

“Birth of a Movement”.... are perfect words for what’s going on!
May this birth flourish with integrity - with non violence communications that continue to MAKE a DIFFERENCE!

A very powerful book....gets your blood moving!!

[Brandice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dave Cullen does an excellent job chronicling the journey of survival for the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland: Birth of a Movement.

18 months ago when this tragic event occurred, the students at MSD said enough is enough and refused to just accept “thoughts and prayers”. They refused to be forgotten by the media and others in a few weeks, as is the unfortunate case with so many similar devastating events. They turned their mourning into movement and never slowed down or shied away from what they were after, creating the March for Our Lives movement and campaigning across the country for gun reform, connecting with local activist organizations, challenging the NRA’s claims, and demanding to be heard.

It will come as no surprise that this book is filled with sad moments. In particular, the chapter about the parents waiting to find out the fate of their children and the aftermath of their loss was, for me, undoubtedly the toughest part of the book to read.

Yet, it’s also an incredible book — These young adults are inspiring and refused to be jaded by adults who may have lost their passion for campaigning for causes. Even before I finished Parkland, I wondered how I’d be able to articulate this. As I continued reading, I noted the following two separate quotes, which sum up my feelings perfectly:

“Adults will always think of ten thousand reasons why you can’t do something,” Dr. Ley said. “Kids won’t do that. That’s what’s glorious about young people: the still-developing impulse control. They see something, they see a cause, and they say, ‘I’m going to do what’s right. You’re not going to stop me.’”

”Archbishop Tutu described March for Our Lives as one of the most significant youth movements in living memory. “The peaceful campaign to demand safe schools and communities and the eradication of gun violence is reminiscent of other great peace movements in history,” he said. “I am in awe of these children, whose powerful message is amplified by their youthful energy and an unshakable belief that children can—no, must—improve their own futures. They are true change makers who have demonstrated most powerfully that children can move the world.”

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't the story of a school shooting in Florida in 2018.

This also isn't the story of the person who committed that act of mass violence.

Instead, this is the story of a social movement started by the teenagers who survived that shooting, and their activist efforts to push for gun reform in America.

I picked up "Parkland" because I had read and admired Dave Cullen's previous book, "Columbine," which is an incredible piece of reporting on the 1999 school shooting in Colorado. Unbeknownst to me and many others, Cullen's immersion into the world of mass shootings has taken its toll on his mental health.

Whenever there was a big shooting, Cullen would often get phone calls from media outlets asking for interviews. But from the beginning, Cullen writes, the Parkland incident felt different, because the students immediately demanded changes in our nation's gun policies. The students didn't want to hear just "hopes and prayers" — they wanted politicians to act and citizens to show their support for gun reform.

I have been following the story of the Parkland students in the media, but it was beneficial to read this detailed account of how the social movement got started. While change may take a while, it was inspiring to read the stories of these impassioned teenagers. Recommended.

[Kelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! It’s hard to know what to say about this incredible piece of journalism. David Cullen has such a talent for presenting the complete picture. His stellar work, Columbine, was as much a criticism of the media machine as it was an examination of the massacre that started the reality with which Cullen suggests we have all become far too complacent. With Parkland, he gives the reader only the necessary comparisons to Columbine. Though it begins with gunshots, this story is different from Columbine, and Cullen makes that clear in as many ways as there are differences. The killer is not named. The focus here is on the movement...on the power, strength, and capacity for these children to organize and achieve results in way that is nothing short of amazing. Their ability to plan and mobilize, using social media and hiring consultants, is awe-inspiring. The sheer numbers they drew, both to the March for Our Lives and to the polls, is unprecedented. The book also examines the mental, physical, and emotional cost of such an epic endeavor, coupled with the same from a terrifying PTSD-inducing mass shooting.
This eye-opening account covers a lot of ground. It’s a devastating reality we face in the US. Regardless of where you stand on gun control, a highly controversial topic, this important book highlights the need for change and the brave kids who are asking the important questions and demanding that change. Inspiring and hopeful. 4.5 stars

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compelling blend of documentation and inspiration, and a must read for anyone concerned about gun safety.

SUMMARY
The story of PARKLAND is told through the voices of the key participants whose personalities, and outlooks are diverse: David Hogg, 17; Emma González, 18; Cameron Kasky, 17; and Jackie Corin, 17. The book takes us into the hearts and minds of these and other Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students as they created a national movement while at the same time coping with the horrific event that has altered them forever.

DAVE CULLEN, who has felt the effects of reporting on school shootings for the past twenty years, watched as the students immediately pushed back on the NRA, and the elected officials that take their money. And he knew this time was different, he knew he had to be there and he had to write this book. Cullen, author of Columbine, takes us on a nine-month journey of a potential pivotal moment in American culture. He gives us insight into the behind the scenes activities of the memorials, the Tallahassee rally, the Town Hall meeting, the March for our Lives, the creation of their gun safety platform, and the Road to Change tour.

REVIEW
PARKLAND is an evocative and enlightening narrative of the events following the shooting of 17 students and staff in Florida. Cullen has masterfully captured the thoughts, feelings and mood of the students and their activities as they unfolded. Living in Florida, having attended the Tallahassee rally and having read much of the Parkland press, I was pleasantly surprised by the details and perspective of the book. One of the things I didn’t know about was that the students adversaries had armed themselves with assault weapons and tailed them throughout Texas and Utah on their Road to Change bus tour, in an attempt at intimidation.

DAVE CULLEN was in Parkland twenty four hours after the shooting happened and he had tremendous access to the students, their family and friends, their living rooms, and their meetings. He followed these newly formed activists for nine months, and found them to be a major force to be reckoned with. Through this book we can feel their fear, their anger, their sadness and most importantly, their indomitable drive to make a difference. Cullen has given us a remarkable view into their call to action. His writing is a compelling blend of documentation and inspiration and it is a must read for everyone concerned about gun safety. These kids rock!

Publisher Harper Audio
Published February 12, 2019
Narrated Dave Cullen, Robert Fass
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

[ALLEN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Believe it or not, author Dave Cullen did not set out to be the nation's leading "talking head" about school massacres. But he did such a brilliant job with his COLUMBINE regarding the mass murder in a Colorado high school that he was prevailed upon to write this PARKLAND when a similarly horrific, but somewhat different turn of events, killed so many teens in a middle-class Florida high school.

The good news is -- Cullen is up to his usual standards. I agree completely with my fellow GR reviewer Emily May, who called PARKLAND a "beautiful work of journalism." The even better news is that Cullen faithfully reports the actions of Margery Stoneman Douglas High School survivors, the students and others who took the killings as a tripwire, not just one more dispiriting atrocity. The notion that "they're mad as hell and not going to take it anymore" holds well here.

Now, to do this Cullen has to inject himself into this narrative to a somewhat larger extent than in COLUMBINE. Nonetheless I wish this well crafted book all the best, and look forward to Cullen's next book, SOLDIERS FIRST, whose publication was postponed into next year so that Cullen could research and write this one. Dave Cullen writes such wonderful books -- he seems well on the way to becoming a national treasure.

[Meike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dave Cullen does it again! After meticulously researching the massacre at Columbine, he now turns his attention away from the perpetrators and writes about those who build up the resistance against America's lax gun laws: A group of Parkland survivors, among them by now well-known activists like Emma González ("We call B.S.!"), David Hogg and Cameron Kasky (Interview with Bill Maher) as well as organizational mastermind Jaclyn Corin. Those kids put American politicians to shame by creating a nationwide network of initiatives that are fighting for better gun control, and their campaigns, notably "Vote for Our Lives", undoubtedly contributed to the Blue Wave in recent elections - after years of accepting the power of the NRA, a de facto minority group, as a given, high school and college students have destroyed the conviction that you can't win elections by rallying against the extreme pro-gun lobbying group. And they are just getting started.

Cullen does a fantastic job describing the situation the Parkland survivors found themselves in: Severely traumatized after the incident, their activism has been a measure of self-empowerment that propelled them to international fame with all its consequences. While privately struggling with the tragedy and its repercussions, they took on a task generations of grown-ups didn't dare to touch. It's particularly intriguing to read about the inner workings of their organization and (brilliant) strategic ideas while also revisiting what we've all seen on CNN: Adults daring to smear those kids as "crisis actors", pundits telling them - who were under attack in their own school - they didn't know what they were talking about, and of course the classic "well, it's always been this way, thoughts and prayers, thank you, next". The good news is, these adults seem to start losing political ground in the US, and it's high time this happens.

From a European perspective, American gun laws are very hard to understand (I can assure you that all the stuff the NRA says can't be done is done basically everywhere in the Western world except in the US), and I was terrified when I first stepped on the campus of my American university and read the sign that said "no guns on these premises" - to have to put up such a sign in the first place seems like a problem to me, and apparently, to more and more Americans as well. But reading Cullen's book, there was a parallel to the situation on our side of the pond that struck me: Looking at the current "Fridays for Future" marches where students demand more responsible climate policies, we hear the same "those children don't know what they're doing" arguments. Well, they do, and the Parkland kids have demonstrated that such movements can become major forces to be reckoned with. Times are tough, but those kids might turn out to be way tougher, and we can all find our own ways to support their causes if we choose to do so.

This is a well-researched book that provides interesting insights and perspectives. I can't wait to read Cullen's upcoming Soldiers First.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dave Cullen is back with another heart-stopping book that depicts the world of gun violence and school shootings. While his first book, Columbine, shook the literary world by depicting the event from two decades before, this piece seeks to encompass the momentum gained after yet another shooting by a group of students trying to neutralise these atrocities. After a shooting in Parkland, Florida, America wrung its collective hands yet again and vowed that school shootings needed to be dealt with once and for all, though this echoed sentiment seems to resonate after each atrocity, vowing to the victims that they will be the last. The students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were the latest of those with a spotlight thrust in their faces, seventeen victims dead from another round of gun violence. But this was not just another school with students who wanted to mourn their losses. Cullen explores the power of a movement that began here, to toss off the yoke of ‘victim’ and turn it into something more. Guns and school shootings had peppered America for years and it was time to take the spotlight off the crying and blood, turning it towards a rallying cry for change. A small group in Parkland began organizing walkouts to protest gun violence, first at local schools and then across the country. There was a need to meet with political figures and plead the case for more restrictions on guns and the need to vilify the NRA (National Rifle Association) and all its spinning as it deflected any responsibility for funding campaigns to keep guns on the streets and in people’s homes. The movement grew and a march in Washington became a rallying cry for the world to see. ‘Guns are killing our children’, it sought to say, ‘and we are tired of it’. Cullen explores how the movement grew and put the spotlight on needed change and political action, forcing those who blame mental illness and not guns for all these killings in schools. As the movement gained momentum and people across the country gathered, thoughts of those who had been slain before in places like Sandy Hook, Columbine, and other horrid mass shootings added fuel to the already raging fire. However, as Cullen posits, one can only wonder if the momentum can be sustained and if politicians and those in positions of authority—read: the NRA—will be held accountable when the time comes. The blame game is strong, but it is time for action, serious action. Cullen and many others suffered significant bouts of anxiety and illness by hearing stories first hand, with long-lasting devastation for those who lived the events as well. One can only imagine the collective pain and mental illness that could come by seeing yet another blind eye turned in hopes of ‘never again’, only to be a temporary battle cry until ‘next time’. Brilliantly argued and researched, Cullen pulls the reader in again. Highly recommended for those who enjoyed Cullen’s past work as well as the reader with an interest in this sort of analysis of American culture.

As I mentioned in my review of Columbine, it is hard to rank the best and worst school shootings in America (or anywhere in the world). The pain and suffering that comes from the event leaves many in such dire straits that no one can really understand the depth of all that is going on. In this piece, Cullen seeks to rise above the analysis that he did in Columbine and look to the movement for a change in the conversation. He refuses to give the Douglas shooter any mention and the focus is less on that shooting than the larger movement to stop them in the future. He describes the agony enough to hook the reader, then moves on to show how speedily students worked to begin making a difference, using social media to push for change and to unite the country and speak about such tragedy. Not deterred by the NRA who sought to make it a mental health issue or President Trump who wanted to arm all teachers, these students wanted their voices heard and changes made once and for all. The time to act was prescient and Cullen was there to capture the movement at its inception. He explores the minds of the students, their efforts to argue with political figures as well as link arms with others who wanted to end the violence. Cullen takes on the movement’s core values and matches it to some of the other protests of non-violence in America history, drawing significant parallels. In his own tongue in cheek manner, Cullen debunks the ‘it is not guns, but people who kill people’ and ‘mental illness is to blame’ sentiments, asking at times why it is only America that seems to have this ongoing issue with school (and more generally, all) shootings in the world. There is never an answer for that. One can only wonder why tons of money is not being funnelled into mental health programs IF we are to believe it is mental health and not guns that are killing these students. Cullen’s well-paced piece seeks to make a difference in his own way with stunning chapters that are broken down into more digestible portions for all to see. There is a stunning exploration throughout and the reader will surely learn much from the movement. I can only hope not to read more Cullen if it pertains to new school shootings, but anything he has to say on the topic (or any topic), I will gladly read any day of the week!

Kudos, Mr. Cullen, for another riveting piece of writing. I hope the momentum can remain high as we go into the 2020 election cycle and beyond.

This novel fulfils the May requirements of Mind the Bookshelf Gap Reading Group. https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/

A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

[Lance L · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1983, Sting released ‘Every Breath You Take’ - a dark, brooding and brilliant song about obsession. It was not only an artistic masterpiece, but also a smash hit - becoming the biggest song of the year and an instant classic. But, bothered by the dark theme of the song, Sting tried to follow it up with a deliberately more positive, upbeat “message” song in 1985 with ‘If You Love Somone Set Them Free’ - a sort of corrective and rejoinder to his earlier work. The new song had none of the power, the daemonic force, of the first though. It felt less authentic, and maybe a little shallow, or forced. Certainly it was a decent song, and a much more commendable message, but it was also forgettable and felt a little empty.

“Columbine” was like ‘Every Breath You Take’; “Parkland” feels more like “If You Love Someone Set Them Free’. It is understandable that the author wants to focus on the positive, highlight the change, change the narrative, etc. But you can see him doing it, and it feels forced. Also, the book is shallower - you never feel like you get to know these kids, never get inside them. Even the quotes seem a little off, like the author was at a loss finding words to fit what he wanted the story to say. It was a decent book, and a very commendable message. But, I won’t remember it the way I did “Columbine”; I didn’t feel it, viscerally, the way I felt that book. This one, for all its good intentions and laudable goals, felt a little empty.

[Mariah Roze · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The New York Times bestselling author of Columbine offers a deeply moving account of the extraordinary teenage survivors of the Parkland shooting who pushed back against the NRA and Congressional leaders and launched the singular grassroots March for Our Lives movement.
Emma Gonzalez called BS. David Hogg called out Adult America. The uprising had begun. Cameron Kasky immediately recruited a colorful band of theatre kids and rising activists and brought them together in his living room to map out a movement. Four days after escaping Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, two dozen extraordinary kids announced the audacious March for Our Lives. A month later, it was the fourth largest protest in American history.
Dave Cullen, who has been reporting on the epidemic of school shootings for two decades, takes us along on the students’ nine-month odyssey to the midterms and beyond. With unrivaled access to their friends and families, meetings and homes, he pulls back the curtain to reveal intimate portraits of the quirky, playful organizers that have taken the nation by storm.
Cullen brings us onto the bus for the Road to Change tour showing us how these kids seized an opportunity. They hit the highway to organize the young activist groups mushrooming across America in their image. Rattled but undeterred, they pressed on in gun country even as adversaries armed with assault weapons tailed them across Texas and Utah trying to scare them off.
The Parkland students are genuinely candid about their experiences. We see them cope with shattered friendships and PTSD, along with the normal day-to-day struggles of school, including AP exams and college acceptances. Yet, with the idealism of youth they are mostly bubbling with fresh ideas. As victims refusing victimhood, they continue to devise clever new tactics to stir their generation to action while building a powerhouse network to match the NRA’s.
This spell-binding book is a testament to change and a perceptive examination of a pivotal moment in American culture. After two decades of adult hand-wringing, the MFOL kids are mapping a way out. They see a long road ahead, a generational struggle to save every kid of every color from the ravages of gun violence in America. Parkland is a story of staggering empowerment and hope, told through the wildly creative and wickedly funny voices of a group of remarkable kids."

[H.M. Ada · Rating 5 out of 5]

The very real, very human stories of a group of kids dealing with a very real, very human tragedy. This book is about loss, grief, and most importantly, action. These are not crisis actors. They are not being put up to anything by their parents. They are real kids thrust into the public sphere by horrific events who decided to reject victimhood and to DO SOMETHING so that this time would be different.

Beautifully written, this book shows you all sides of these brave, smart, and determined kids and the movement they built. Don’t expect a lot of policy. Rather, this book, like the March for our Lives movement, is a lesson in activism and civics about how anyone willing to roll up their sleeves can make a difference and change the national conversation. It’s about long bus rides, planning sessions, sleepless nights, savvy use of technology, face-to-face conversations with gun owners, meetings with politicians that don’t go anywhere . . . and some that do.

So, will this time be different? I think it already is. Parkland is seared on our collective memory and the debate IS changing. There is a ground swell in this country of people demanding change on so many issues, and when we do finally get sensible changes to our gun policy, I know it will be at least in part because of these kids and their movement.

[Rincey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moving and inspiring to say the least

I read this for round 1 of the booktube prize. You can see my full thoughts here: https://youtu.be/5QGUMOHG3Ts

[Diane in Australia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author, Dave Cullen, also wrote Columbine, which I haven't read yet. Apparently, this book is different in that it focuses on the movement that the survivors of the Parkland school shooting initiated, 'Never Again', and not the actual shooting.

3 Stars = Okay. Maybe not a page-turner, but not sorry I read it.

(My apologies for such a short review. I'm struggling with a few things, at the moment, and just can't seem to find the presence of mind to write longer reviews.)

[Dan Connors · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Parkland shooting of 2018 is different because it spawned an entire movement against gun violence. This is the story of the teenagers who took on the system and traveled the country, speaking with politicians, other mass shooting victims, and gun rights advocates.
The author does an admirable job following around the teenagers and interviewing them so that we get a sense of what it was like the day of the shooting, the weeks afterward, and the buildup to the huge March for our Lives in Washington DC later that year.
I got the sense that this generation is determined to change things, and given the gridlock that has us stuck in the same situation year after year, I hope they can. Every month there seems to be another mass shooting, some thoughts and prayers, and no movement on even simple agreed upon gun laws such as background checks.
My favorite part was how they joined up with the kids from Chicago, ground zero for gun violence, and helped those kids in their fight. I also get a refresher in the 6 principles of of nonviolence that go back to Martin Luther King:

PRINCIPLE ONE: Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people. It is active nonviolent resistance to evil.
It is aggressive spiritually, mentally and emotionally.
PRINCIPLE TWO: Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding. The end result of nonviolence is redemption and reconciliation.
The purpose of nonviolence is the creation of the Beloved Community.
PRINCIPLE THREE: Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice not people. Nonviolence recognizes that evildoers are also victims and are not evil people.
The nonviolent resister seeks to defeat evil not people.
PRINCIPLE FOUR: Nonviolence holds that suffering can educate and transform. Nonviolence accepts suffering without retaliation.
Unearned suffering is redemptive and has tremendous educational and transforming possibilities.
PRINCIPLE FIVE: Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate. Nonviolence resists violence of the spirit as well as the body.
Nonviolent love is spontaneous, unmotivated, unselfish and creative.
PRINCIPLE SIX: Nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side of justice. The nonviolent resister has deep faith that justice will eventually win.
Nonviolence believes that God is a God of justice.

Choose love instead of hate. I've seen that sentiment a lot of places and it embodies the mature beyond their years kids of Parkland.

[Bruce Katz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very powerful book. Time and again, as I read it, I found myself tearing up -- because I'm a father, because I have a beating heart, because I'm a wimp, all/none of the above. "Parkland" has that kind of immediacy, for me at least. I was at the Washington March for Our Lives event with my daughter, and I vividly remember the crush of hundreds of thousands of people trying to see and hear everything. I had to leave before it was over, and the streets were so packed that it took me more than an hour to get to the closest Metro station. I still have the pictures on my phone, the faces, signs, the Capitol in the background. I'd post one here if I knew how.

The book follows the March for Our Lives students from shortly after MFOL's very beginning in the aftermath of the shooting, through their early visits to speak with politicians, the Washington event itself. It ends shortly after the 2018 midterms. Cullen enables us to see who the kids are, the many challenges they faced in responding to the shooting and its aftermath, and how it all played out over time.

Although Cullen does allow himself to comment from time to time, he mostly stays in the background, letting the kids speak for themselves. And they are, unsurprisingly, most articulate. We see the difficult journey they lived through, partly because (though it may be easy to forget sometimes) they ARE kids, still learning, still growing, still as goofy and complicated as all teenagers are, but they've also been traumatized by the horror of what they survived and what their friends didn't, they've had to cope with online trolls and death threats and charges of being "crisis actors" and sometimes even anger rom their classmates, and through it all they've tried to stay determined -- driven -- to do everything they can to prevent shootings like this from happening again.

The name of the shooter appears nowhere in the book. That was Cullen's choice -- the right one, in my opinion -- and the preference of the kids themselves. And though he's not entirely quiet about the opinions he holds of certain politicians, Cullen keeps that part very low key, as do the kids themselves. They are not anti-gun (in fact, a number of them come from gun owning households) or against the Second Amendment, nor do they feel animus toward determined gun owners -- though the NRA does come in for some less than flattering treatment. The single issue for them is trying to stop the shooting: in schools, the streets of Chicago, in churches. It's about moving the conversation past "thoughts and prayers," finding common ground among many constituences, and treating those who disagree with them not as "enemies" but as "adversaries" who care about the safety of their kids every bit as much as other parents do.

Over all, a very moving and celebratory book. One can't help admiring the kids -- for their honesty, creativity, sensitivity, integrity, and perserverence -- without losing sight of the fact that they are, as I said, teenagers. One -- this one, at least -- can't help but hope that their efforts continue to finf resonance going forward.

Postscript 27 March: It was reported that two students who survived the shooting committed suicide this week as did one of the fathers whose child was killed at Sandy Hook. MFOL isn't very visible as I write this, but the awful cost of gun violence continues to grow. No matter where people stand on the Second Amendment, we should all care -- no: act -- to stop the killing. When "ideology" is held more dear than the lives of children, we have begun to lose our souls.

[Janelle Janson · Rating 5 out of 5]

RTC

[BookOfCinz · Rating 4 out of 5]

In February, seventeen died at Douglas High, along with 1,044 others in America. In the first six months of 2018, over 1,700 kids were killed or injured by guns...

I went into this book expecting to have the same experience I did when I read Columbine and I am happy to report, reading this was an entirely different experience, an experience I embraced. When I finished reading Columbine I was crushed, distraught and filled with a sense of hopelessness. The author, Dave Cullen made mention of the toll it took on him mentally writing that book which is why I think Parkland had such a hopeful read to it.

Parkland: Birth of a Movement takes you through the birth of a movement which calls for the end of gun violence and serious gun reformations. The individuals that Cullen profiled through the book are inspiring and reading this book makes me feel like they made a huge impact.


A great read.

[Robert Sheard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite an emotional read for me because I was teaching in Broward County at the time of the Stoneman Douglas shooting. I'm friends with the guy who was the debate coach there at the time. My students knew their students, through debate, drama, etc. We had just been to Stoneman Douglas the week before for a debate tournament. It was very "close to home."

But this book isn't about the shooting; instead, Cullen focuses on the student activists who create a movement afterwards and it's an inspiring and telling story for our times.

[Traci Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really well done. Not about the shooting. About the surviving activists. Cullen is genius but the content wasn’t as powerful as I had hoped. Still really good and a smooth read.

[Kelly]

A really phenomenal books about the March for Our Lives founders, their movement, and all of the movements that inspired and educated them. This is like Columbine in that it's the story that the media doesn't tell -- that MFOL brought in and were educated, inspired by, and collaborated with groups from inner-city Chicago that helped them learn about gun violence outside, in the raw, rather than inside, for one. It's unlike Columbine in that it's never about the perpetrator; we don't even get a name.

Powerful, moving, and heartening.

[Tess Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Sandie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to all of the very brave parents who allowed their children to be a part of this gun safety movement. I am not sure I could have done the same.

The progress that was made by the Parkland students, and most importantly, their foresight to connect with other groups doing the same work, such as the Peace Warriors and BRAVE, is substantial and hopefully, long lasting.

I came away with this thought: I will explore every political candidates stance on gun control and safety and vote accordingly.

[Rebecca]

In den USA vergeht kaum ein Tag, an dem es in Schulen zu keinem tödlichen Schusswaffengebrauch kommt. Erst vor wenigen Wochen ging die Nachricht um die Welt, dass ein sechsjähriger Erstklässler in einer amerikanischen Grundschule seine Lehrerin erschossen hatte.

Im Jahr 2018 war das School Shooting, das wohl die meiste Aufmerksamkeit bekam, das Schulmassaker von Parkland. Am Valentinstag tötete ein ehemaliger Schüler der Marjory Stoneman Douglas Highschool insgesamt 17 Menschen.
Schon direkt danach in den ersten Medienberichten und Interviews zeigt sich: die Schüler*innen von Parkland sind nicht nur Opfer. Sie sind bereit, ihre Kräfte zu bündeln und für eine bessere Zukunft ohne tägliche Meldungen von neuen School Shootings zu kämpfen.

Dave Cullen ist ein guter Journalist. 10 Jahre lang war Columbine sein einziges Buch. Davor hatte er bereits 10 Jahre dafür recherchiert, mit Hinterbliebenen gesprochen und viel Zeit am Ort der Tat verbracht. Die Beschäftigung mit dem Amoklauf war so intensiv, dass Cullen sich zeitweise selbst in Therapie begab. In der Folge entschied er, lieber bei Zeitungsarbeiten zu bleiben, kurze und konkrete Beschäftigungen mit einem Thema, ohne so tief in die Materie einzudringen, dass es ihn persönlich zu sehr mitzieht.

Doch das Parkland-Shooting rüttelt ihn wieder auf. Er beschließt, erneut vor Ort zu reisen und mit den Betroffenen zu sprechen. Diesmal soll jedoch keine Chronik der Tat entstehen, dem Täter selbst keine Aufmerksam gewidmet werden. In den nächsten Monaten des Jahres 2018 begleitet Cullen die Überlebenden von Parkland bei der Vernetzung mit anderen Betroffenen in der ganzen Welt und bei der Organisation eines der größten Protestmärsche in der jüngeren Geschichte der USA: Dem March for our Lives.
Eindrücklich erzählt der Autor davon, wie die Jugendlichen zwischen 14 und 20, gebeutelt von der größten Tragödie ihres Lebens, sich zusammenschließen und sich dem größten Gegner von Gun Reforms stellen: der NRA, einer der größten Lobby-Gruppen des Landes.
#neveragain

_______________

So, nun meine Meinung zum Buch selbst: Die Ziele des March for our lives, die Energie und das Durchhaltevermögen dieser Kinder hat natürlich tausende Sterne verdient. Wahnsinn, echt. Man kann nur bewundern, wie schnell diese Jugendlichen im Angesicht dieser Tragödie sofort geschalten und ihre Plattform für Großes genutzt haben.
Das Buch selbst fand ich ehrlich gesagt nicht ganz leicht zu lesen. Es geht halt wahnsinnig viel um Organisation und Vernetzung. Bewundernswert, ohne Frage, aber es ist keine leichte Lektüre. Wir bekommen hunderte Namen genannt und zumindest ich musste diese ganzen Personen erstmal zusammengoogeln und war am Ende oft doch wieder verwirrt.

Empfehlen kann ich dieses Buch Menschen, die wirklich einen deep dive in die Organisation von Protestbewegungen machen wollen. Interessiert ihr euch einfach für die Ziele und Errungenschaften des March for our lives, würde ich persönlich einen längeren Zeitungsartikel empfehlen.

[Kelly Hager · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first thing that's important to remember is that last year at this time, we didn't know who David Hogg, Cameron Kasky, Jackie Corin or Emma Gonzalez were. It hasn't even been a year since seventeen people were murdered in Parkland. Every time I think about that, it shocks me. These kids are household names, and it feels like they always have been.

The second thing---and this is more important---is that they, like all American kids in their generation, have grown up in the age of mass shootings in general and school shootings in particular. They haven't known a world without them. I was in college when Columbine happened; they weren't even born yet.

That's probably why they reacted the way they did. They realized this whole time that adults weren't going to save them, but after the shooting at their school, they realized they would have to save themselves and everyone else.

It is awe-inspiring to see what they've done in under a year and I'm sure we're going to continue to see great things from them.

This book doesn't go into the details of the shooting, but it does show how they took a horrific day and worked to do everything they could to make it stop with them. At the same time, they're realistic. They've said repeatedly that they don't want to take away all the guns; in fact, Cameron and David have grown up around them. They just want to make it harder for people to use guns to kill people. (I'm pretty sure most of us would agree that that's a good goal, right? Fewer murders?)

Parkland made me angry but it's also an inspiring story and a hopeful one. It's easy to give up, but they haven't. Neither can we.

Highly recommended. 

[Amanda McGill · Rating 4 out of 5]

For full review - The Limit of Books Does Not Exist

Over a year ago, I remember going on Twitter and seeing tweets about the CNN Townhall. Curious I tuned in and the townhall was about gun control and had students from Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. I couldn’t believe what I was watching. A month after their school shooting, they were up on stage and speaking to the NRA, Florida’s U.S. Senator, Marco Rubio. The students were clear and concise with their arguments and were asking the big name players the hard questions. It was inspiring.

Journalist, Dave Cullen, follows the Parkland students as they go across America and organize the March for Our Lives. I really enjoyed the writing style that Cullen uses. He describes the students so that you feel you know who they are and you want to fight for what they are fighting for.

I’m not American, so I’m not going to pretend that I understand the gun control issues that Americans are debating about. Parkland is not about taking guns away. It’s about a horrific event that has students standing up for what they believe in. It’s about a movement that has both sides talking. This is just the beginning that we are hearing about Parkland students.

An inspiring read. #neveragain

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

PARKLAND: BIRTH OF A MOVEMENT is an intimate exploration of the teen survivors’ continued strength, resilience, courage, and tenacity following the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018. It’s about the boulders they are moving by refusing to be complacent and the trials they have faced along the way. This entire book is a TORCH and you can feel their fire.

I experienced the full spectrum of emotions while reading this book. I was sad. I was angry. I was awestruck, hopeful, and inspired. I encourage you to go into this book with the understanding that this is not a true crime book. It does not examine the crime or even mention the killer’s name. It is all about the MFOL teenagers and their unrelenting activism. I know Dave Cullen is an incredible journalist- He has managed to expertly compile this information with such tact and objectivity that the only voices that come through belong to the incredible survivors. I highly recommend reading their story.

*I received a free advanced copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Theresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

i'm not really sure what i thought i was going to get from this book, but this was not what i thought.
i got a good sense of who some of the kids are, but the timeline was jumpy and a bit scattershot.
Columbine gave me such a clear idea of the community, the people involved, and how everyone began to rebuild.
i didn't really get that here. i understand Jackie Corin and the motivations/logistics of MFOL, but there wasn't a strong thru-narrative that tied everything together.
i appreciate everything that Cullen accomplished with this book. the MSD students really trusted him with their stories and it shows with the care he put into everything. i had never heard about the Spring Awakening story.
for me, the book just didn't coalesce. i LOVED Cullen's Columbine - i reread it once every few years - and i was looking forward to this one. i think maybe my expectations were just in a different direction.