Review: Parkland: Birth of a Movement by Dave Cullen

Title: Parkland: Birth of a Movement
Author: Dave Cullen
Publisher: Harper
Publication Date: February 12, 2019
Edition: ebook (400 pages)
Genres:

• Nonfiction
• Activism
• Crime
• Gun Crime
• History
• Politics
• True Crime

My Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dave Cullen, author of "Columbine," and journalist, who has been covering mass shootings for nearly twenty years, tells the stories of the survivors of the Parkland, Florida, mass shooting on February 14, 2018, when seventeen people were gunned down by one shooter. He brings to life the journey of these students as they seek to stop this epidemic and form the March For Our Lives (MFOL) movement. The tragic events of that day have culminated in a grassroots movement, lead by young people, which has pushed back against the NRA and has had a profound influence on the engagement of young people in our democracy like never before.

I think this book is exceptionally well written as a chronicle of events. But it is also so much more. It is the author's own personal account and reaction to the ongoing scourge of mass shootings, his battle with secondary PTSD, and his willingness to return once again to the place of another mass shooting in order to tell the story of these young people. I think his writing captures the essence of these warriors against gun violence--and their dedication and determination to stop this epidemic with sensible and straight forward gun laws.

Though the subject matter of this book is hard to read about, I'm so glad I read it. I highly recommend it to anyone who needs encouragement and to see what agents of change look like and act like. I am so proud of these young people who are choosing to become politically engaged and who are making a difference.