Only Child by Rhiannon Navin 

Summary

We went to school that Tuesday like normal. Not all of us came home...

Huddled in a cloakroom with his classmates and teacher, six-year-old Zach can hear shots ringing through the corridors of his school. A gunman has entered the building and, in a matter of minutes, will have taken nineteen lives.

In the aftermath of the shooting, the close knit community and it's families are devastated. Everyone deals with the tragedy differently. Zach's father absents himself; his mother pursues a quest for justice – while Zach retreats into his super-secret hideout and loses himself in a world of books and drawing.

Ultimately though, it is Zach who will show the adults in his life the way forward – as, sometimes, only a child can.

Review

From the opening paragraph, until the very last word, Only Child had me gripped. As parents, all we want , no need , is to protect our children from harm. This novel speaks to that worry, that fear...

The book opens with Zach, his teacher and classmates hiding in a closet. A gunman is walking through the school and they can hear the shots...

'POP POP POP

It sounded a lot like the sounds from the Star Wars game I sometimes play on the Xbox.'

But it isn't a game, it isn't even a lockdown drill, this is real.

The first chapter is a chilling recounting of those horrifying minutes when a class of infants is cowering in a closet, wondering if they are going to die. The anxiety, the distress, the terror is palpable and I had tears running down my face within the first couple of pages.

Only Child is told through the eyes of six-year-old Zach, and reading this heartbreaking narrative from such an honest and innocent perspective adds to the agony.

The shooting is just the beginning. Nineteen lives have been taken, and the ripples of this violent crime are felt throughout the entire community. How do you carry on when your child has been taken from you in such a brutal way? How do you survive when your heart has suffered so much damage? Zach's mum and dad both fall apart, each trying desperately to find a way to carry on, but neither of them coping.

Rhiannon Navin writes beautifully and honestly, and in Only Child she has given us a book of hope. Even in the darkest hours we can and must search for light. Tragedies happen, but through the pain, there is always the promise of healing and happiness. Yes, this book WILL make you cry, but it will also make you smile,and it will leave you with a slightly battered by hopeful heart.

Title: Only Child
Author: Rhiannon Navin
isbn: 978159855582
publisher: Pan Macmillan
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