Published by Nancy Paulsen Books
ISBN 0399257942 (ISBN13: 9780399257940)

SYNOPSIS:
“When high school seniors Emery and Jake are taken hostage in the classroom where they tutor, they must work together to calm both the terrified children and the gunman threatening them–a task made even more difficult by their recent break-up. Brian Stutts, a soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in Iraq, uses deadly force when he’s denied access to his son because of a custody battle. The children’s fate is in the hands of the two teens, each recovering from great loss, who now must reestablish trust in a relationship damaged by betrayal.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Beck McDowell is a former high school AP English teacher who’s sponsored student newspapers, literary magazines, writing competitions, Shakespeare festivals, medieval banquets, book fairs, art exhibits, and trips to museums, operas and plays. Together, she and her students built the website www.notrequiredreading.com. After years of taking students all over Europe on summer trips, she’s traveling with her family now from her current home in Huntsville, Alabama–most often to New Orleans, her hometown.