Rachel Paxton-Gillilan is a freelance writer and semi-professional nerd.At the B & N Teen Blog she tagged six "of the most suspenseful and chilling young adult hostage books around," including:
This Is Not a Drill, by Beck McDowellRead about the other entries on the list.
This Is Not a Drill perfectly captures the terror, confusion, and tension of two high school seniors who find themselves involved in a hostage situation. Emery and Jake are tutoring a class of first-graders when a gunman with PTSD bursts in, demanding custody of his son. Somehow the teens, who used to date, must calm the children and try to get help. Told through the two leads’ alternating perspectives, the story examines the subject of mental illness and gun violence in a balanced way. It’s a scary premise, and, unfortunately, a story ripped from the headlines.
--Marshal Zeringue
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