Dear Charlie by N.D. Gomes

Publisher:  HarperCollins UK
Expected On Sale Date: October 20th 2016
Pages: 222
Age Range: Young Adult

Sam had a normal teen life, living with his parents and his older brother Charlie.Till the most unexpected thing happened: Charlie brought a gun to school and started shooting and afterwards took his own life. And now Sam's live is changed forever, and he has to deal with the aftermath of it. His parents are never being the same anymore as before, and they all try to figure out why Charlie commited this act, and that they all barely knew the ''real'' Charlie. As his parents' marriage crumbles under the pressure of the fallout from Charlie's act, he has nowhere to turn and nobody to turn to. After moving schools, he's still treated like an outcast, but is welcomed into the world of the other school outcasts - the punks and the indie kids. But then he goes and falls for the group's leader's girlfriend.... 

Besides that, the family is trying to cope with the media, who is ofcourse paying a lot of attention to the tragic events and Charlie's background, and the anger of the community towards them. And in the midst of all this, Sam tries to graduate from high school and auditions for the music college he hopes to attend.

I found this book very good and very moving. It was quite a fast paced read and very well written, which are quite the selling points for this book. The story tackles quite a hot topic: school shootings, which sadly still happens in schools, mostly in the US.This book is set in the UK though. Sam is an interesting main character. He has to deal with so many difficult things in his teen life. It was very moving to see how he grieved for his brother, but took steps to get out of it and move on with his live, even without many help of his parents, who where stuck in their own grief.

Overall a very good read!!