Thrid Blog

All the words can’t sum up this book. The struggles and problems have a feel of some closure. The reflection of the year afterwards, gives this book the final closure.

I have always wondered if a medical condition can be blamed for someone’s actions. Can a medical condition like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder be the “thing” to blame for what Peter did. To a point, I can understand that high school drama and bullies, places an emotional hardship on the outcast students of the school, but I still don’t think a medical condition is to be solely blamed. I also believe that situations other than school shootings would hold the same principle. I believe regardless what medical condition a person may have that might compromise their outlook of what’s right and what’s wrong should still be held somewhat accountable. What do you think?

I also have a good point to bring up about the title. Right now, I am studying Shakespeare and he uses numbers to symbolize several main events, conflicts, or resolutions. I wonder which accounts in the book “19” would refer to. I can think of several possibilities like that number of minutes it took for the school shooting to be over. What other events in the book would you think symbolizes the number 19.

I was very surprised by the ending of the book. To believe that Josie played a role in the shooting, and being found guilty of manslaughter wasn’t a major shock. After reading for awhile, I thought that Peter was completely innocent. I started to believe that Josie was saying she couldn’t remember anything to get off the hook of shooting everyone. It would make sense that Peter would take the blame if Josie was the one who did the shooting.

Overall, I really liked reading the book. I was placed into a perspective that shootings affect not only the victims and families, but the entire community around them.



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