Everyone should read this book.

Before starting this book I happened to read a negative and snarky review in Artforum. The review so disturbed me that through out the book I kept thinking "did the reviewer read the same book I'm reading? Did the reviewer read the entire book or just excerpts?" And when the review ends with "We don’t blame you or hate you. Really. We just wish you hadn’t written this offensive, self-serving, mendacious mephitic book." Who is the "we" they are writing about? Many things the reviewer stated as "fact" just weren't true and I found that very disturbing.

This is a difficult book to read because the subject matter is intensely difficult. I applaud Sue Klebold for writing a book about her journey looking for answers to why her beloved son committed such violent and horrific acts. I believe it's possible to both grieve the child you loved and also be filled with immense shame and guilt by their actions. I think she has a right to tell her story from her own perspective and pain as she can never adequately tell the story of the other victims and parents. My heart breaks for EVERYONE affected by Columbine. Their lives will never be the same.

This story is Susan Klebold’s account of her experience after her son Dylan, along with his friend Eric Harris, committed the Columbine shootings, where they went to their high school, killed 13 people and injured many more, and then killed themselves. In this book you see how she struggles with the loss of her son and the horrors he committed. Her experience is definitely a heartbreaking one. Not only must she grieve for her son, but she must also face what he did and her feelings of guilt over what she might have missed. She talks about her shock and horror not only over losing her son but the people he hurt. Especially heart-breaking is her talking about not realizing how troubled and hurting her son was and how she wishes she could go back and get him help. A big part of her story is her understanding that what happened to her son could happen to everyone. Mental illness does not discriminate and it may not always be apparent when somebody is struggling. She now works to promote suicide and mental health awareness, and it is inspiring that out of such horror came a commitment to help others. This book is not an easy read, due to the hard subject matter, but it is definitely interesting and important.- Madeline C.

I want to give this book one million stars.

I could write pages about how amazing, how important, and how brave this book is and it still wouldn't be enough. For me, it immediately falls into my top 25 books, one that I want to beg every parent and every person working with children to read. There is so much here for everyone, and so much that needed to be said.

This is not a book about Columbine. It is a book about mental health issues, how we judge parents, and what we can do to move forward to help people in mental health crises. It is a beautiful and heartbreaking memoir, one that was certainly difficult to read at times, but one that will stay with me for a lifetime. I can only hope as my own children - who we already know have mental health issues- navigate adolescence into adulthood, I keep these lessons and the information in this book in my heart to help them.

Thank you thank you thank you Sue Klebold for writing this book.

Eye-opening and heartbreaking, it’s weird to think how much I thought was true and turns out it wasn’t…

It was hard to put this book down, but at the same time it was necessary to put the book down. Such a haunting story. I am grateful to the author for sharing her experience and learning with the world to increase awareness around mental health and suicide.

Should be required reading for anyone who interacts with adolescents on a regular basis. Much more than a book on Columbine, it’s about trying to fix the ways we consistently fail to teach kids about looking after their own brain health, and goes on to ask some very difficult questions.