Leonard Peacock carries a P-38 Nazi handgun in his backpack on his eighteenth birthday. He intends to kill his former best friend, Asher Beal, before ending his own life. Before carrying out this plan, Leonard visits four people to deliver goodbye gifts: a neighbor who loves Humphrey Bogart films, a violin prodigy, a girl who distributes religious tracts at the train station, and his Holocaust studies teacher, Herr Silverman. These interactions reveal the isolation Leonard feels due to his mother’s neglect and a past trauma involving Asher.
High school students and educators read this book to see a realistic portrayal of clinical depression and the consequences of adult indifference. It appeals to those interested in how specific interventions, like a teacher’s attention or a small act of kindness, can disrupt a cycle of ideation. The reader comes away with a detailed understanding of the internal logic behind the desire to disappear and the specific social connections that keep a person tethered to the future.
Inward-looking and thought-provoking; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Empathetic Explorer. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2013
- Language
- EN
