That's Not What Happened by Kody Keplinger

From Goodreads,

"It's been three years since the Virgil County High School Massacre. Three years since my best friend, Sarah, was killed in a bathroom stall during the mass shooting. Everyone knows Sarah's story--that she died proclaiming her faith. 

But it's not true. 

I know because I was with her when she died. I didn't say anything then, and people got hurt because of it. Now Sarah's parents are publishing a book about her, so this might be my last chance to set the record straight . . . but I'm not the only survivor with a story to tell about what did--and didn't--happen that day. 

Except Sarah's martyrdom is important to a lot of people, people who don't take kindly to what I'm trying to do. And the more I learn, the less certain I am about what's right. I don't know what will be worse: the guilt of staying silent or the consequences of speaking up . . ."

Goodreads - That's Not What Happened

One of my biggest fears as a teacher is that there will be a school shooting.  We have procedures in place and everyone knows what to do in the event of a lockdown.  Nonetheless, I am still terrified of it happening.  This book centers around a school shooting and the aftermath of the lies that spiraled out of control by hearsay and the media.

This book is told from the perspective of Lee, who is one of the survivors of the school shooting at Virgil County High School.  While there were many students who were in the building when the shooting happen, only six came face to face with the shooter and survived.  Each survivor has a piece of the story and a piece of the truth.  A lie spirals out of control about a victim of the shooting, and everyone believes it.  It is up to Lee to try to get the truth told and for each person to tell their piece of the story.

This story reminded me a lot of the book about Cassie Bernall who was a victim of the Columbine shooting.  The story went that Cassie was asked if she believed in God, and that she said yes and was shot.  I recall reading the book when I was in Junior High and I absolutely believed what I read.  However, after reading the book Columbine I realized it was far from the truth.  One student heard one thing, one heard another, and it came down to the fact that Cassie was actually never asked if she believed in God, that she in fact wasn't even asked a question.  This book reminded me so much of that same incident.  That's Not What Happened focuses on Sarah who was in the bathroom stall with Lee when the shooter came in.  The shooter did ask someone if they believed in God, but it wasn't Sarah.  Another student in the hall heard this and assumed it was Sarah responding.  While the stories were eerily similar, it also had an important message.  We can't believe everything we hear.  We need to get the facts straight from the people who were present, not the people who heard something in passing.  This is how gossip starts and snowballs.  One person says one thing, someone else passes it along with a little bit different information, and soon enough the story is out of control and far from the truth.  It is so important that we know the truth before we start running around and sharing information.  I think this could be a highly beneficial lesson to teach to students in middle school.

The format of this book was interesting the way it was written.  The first thing I noticed was that each chapter was labeled with XXX.  There were never any chapter numbers or titles.  I'm still not sure of the significance of the chapters the way they were.  I absolutely loved that throughout the book there were little informational pieces about each of the victims.  It was interesting to learn about them as a character in a book and not just a name on a plaque.  I also liked that the main character Lee asked for each of the survivors to write their story telling the truth of that day.  While some were reluctant, it honestly helped each one deal with the day and the demons they were harboring.  I've read other "school shooting" genre books and this is the first one that included the truth from the survivors and a small emphasis on the life of the victims.

This was a well written book by Keplinger.  While preparing this post I was shocked to find out that she wrote The DUFF.  I had no idea she was the mastermind behind that book. (I only watched the movie, but it was still really good!)  I think this would be a popular book with educators and with young adults.  The storyline of a school shooting is morbid, but it still has important messages.  Overall I give this book 4 stars out of 5.