East Fishkill Community Library Online Book Group discussion

Share your thoughts on Only Child by Rhiannon Navin here.

"Readers of Jodi Picoult and Liane Moriarty will also like this tenderhearted debut about healing and family, narrated by an unforgettable six-year-old boy who reminds us that sometimes the littlest bodies hold the biggest hearts and the quietest voices speak the loudest.

Squeezed into a coat closet with his classmates and teacher, first grader Zach Taylor can hear gunshots ringing through the halls of his school. A gunman has entered the building, taking nineteen lives and irrevocably changing the very fabric of this close-knit community. While Zach's mother pursues a quest for justice against the shooter's parents, holding them responsible for their son's actions, Zach retreats into his super-secret hideout and loses himself in a world of books and art. Armed with his newfound understanding, and with the optimism and stubbornness only a child could have, Zach sets out on a captivating journey towards healing and forgiveness, determined to help the adults in his life rediscover the universal truths of love and compassion needed to pull them through their darkest hours."

This was a really heavy book but I enjoyed reading it. There were definitely parts that were hard to read. I think that telling the story from a child's perspective was a clever way to talk about a difficult topic.

This sounds like a good book. I will have to read it. Better late than never!

Gisella wrote: "This sounds like a good book. I will have to read it. Better late than never!"

Yes, definitely!