After the First Death

After the First Death
Robert Cormier
288 pgs
Puffin (2006)
Subject Matter: death, terrorism, kids, loyalty

A school bus is hijacked by terrorists and the driver tries to save them by driving away. The bus is halted on a bridge and one of the children is shot. The story is told from the perspective of two foreign terrorists, Kate, a 16-year-old who is driving the bus and automatically becomes the caregiver of the children who she was driving to summer camp, and the son of the American general who is negotiating.

Review: Done very realistically and believable. Many heart strings are pulled as chapters are told by different perspectives.

Now You Know: Dramatic and colorful language