A Book A Week

They hid in a coat closet, the persistent pop, pop, pop ringing throughout the building. Six-year-old Zach looked to his fellow classmates and teacher for comfort, a sign that the terror they all felt would be short-lived. Zach found solace in his teacher. She clung to her students, silently praying they would make it out alive. In a few short minutes, the gunman who entered their elementary school took 19 lives. One of the children lost was Zach's older brother. 

In the aftermath, young Zach is left grappling with the ramifications of his brother's death. The elder Andy wasn't always kind to his younger sibling. Zach is feeling a mixture of sadness and a guilty relief that he won't have to be tormented by his brother again. His parents aren't emotionally available to help their grieving son. Zach's mother is out for revenge against the family of the shooter. His father can't look at Zach without breaking down. With no adult available to help him process his own state of mind, Zach retreats to his secret hideout in Andy's closet. From this safe space, he wills himself to be the agent of healing for himself, his family, and his community. 

I've struggled to put my reaction to this novel into words. As someone who has worked in schools for the better part of a decade and who has countless friends and family members who teach, I couldn't help but place myself into the horrors that Only Child grapples with. For better or worse, Rhiannon Navin has written a work that is as uniquely American as the tragedy she writes about. The entire narrative is told from the perspective of Zach, giving the reader a first-hand look into the life of a family in the aftermath of gun violence. I was reminded of Jack in Emma Donoghue's Room. As Donoghue did in that novel, Navin uses the innocence of her protagonist to explore the different ways that people deal with grief while also rooting her writing in a character that you can't help but attach to. The result is a novel that is as breathtakingly beautiful as it is heartbreaking. 

As I finished reading the novel, I couldn't help but reflect upon the recent school shooting in Uvalde, TX. I'm a lifelong Texan who grew up around and was taught a healthy respect for guns. That being said, I can't fathom that we have done nothing to stop heinous massacres like this from happening. There are no more excuses. We have to find a way to stop these senseless acts of violence. I don't pretend to have all the answers, though I do think that common-sense firearm legislation and a more comprehensive strategy around mental health in our country would be as good a place as any to begin. I'm certain that in a nation as wealthy and industrious as the United States, there is simply no reason we can't work to solve this problem. Books like Only Child serve to show the devastation that will continue to happen if we do nothing. 

For more information visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads. 

(2022, 26)