School shootings are far too common these days. That Night is a story about two families dealing with deaths from a shooting at a movie theater that killed 18 people. It had a lot of humor in it, but it had its serious moments at the same time. I loved the book and find it hard to believe it currently only has 501 ratings on Goodreads.
The shooting caused Jess to lose her brother Ethan. Her mom walks around in a fog and can’t hold down a job, and her best friend is away at another school trying to cope. Lucas, a boy she thinks is cute but doesn’t really know, also lost his brother.
When Jess gets a job at the same hardware store Ethan works at, he initially doesn’t want her to be around. Eventually, they realize they like each other. But Ethan doesn’t know her secret…
That Night is a contemporary love story that I flew through. I loved the characters, and I loved Jess and Lucas together. The survivors of the shooting all have their own ways of dealing with the tragedy. Jess and Lucas’s families are so different, but they work. I loved the small-ish town setting, where most people know each other and look out for each other.
I love how these characters are funny. It helps lighten up a book that was triggered by such a serious event. Its a book that, even though there’s sadness inside, it’s also accompanied by hope. Sometimes we need a little bit more of that.
In another year or two, there won’t be clusters of empty seats at graduation, or an entire “In Memoriam” section in the yearbook. They’ll move on and try to forget about that night.
p. 301
There are a lot of tragic things that happen in the world. As I write this, there was a school shooting today. Even more than that, I know of so many young people that are depressed. Although a book is unlikely to change that, That Night might be a good book for people who who have experienced tragedy in their life and are having difficulty coping. I really loved this book, and it’s a little sad that more people haven’t read it.