| One winter's morning in the town of Sam Dent in upstate New York, a school bus crashes, killing fourteen children, injuring one, and leaving the entire town in shock. As the town atttempts to cope with the terrible tragedy that has befallen them, the reader sees events through the eyes of four characters.
Dolores Driscoll is the bus driver, who swerved to avoid what might have been a dog. The bus fell into a quarry, leaving only two survivors, her and a fourteen year old girl. Only slightly injured, Dolores must cope with questions of responsibility and blame. Was the tragedy her fault? Billy Ansel is a vietnam veteran who lost his wife to cancer several years earlier. His life revolves around his two children, nine year old twins. He is driving behind the school bus when it falls into the quarry, and Billy realizes that he must now face a world were everything he loves is lost Mitchell Stephens is a lawyer who arrives in Sam Dent after the accident, full of anger. He believes that the tragedy could have been avoided if the town had nstalled a better rail by the quarry. As he represents the families of Sam Dent who have lost children, he must also face the loss of his own daughter Zoe who his is about to lose to a world of drugs and crime. Fourteen year old Nichole Burnell is the only passenger to survive the accident, which left her a parapeligic. When her parents become involved in Mitchell Stephen's lawsuit Nichole feels that the dead children are being exploited, and she reolves to do all she can to stop that from happening. This sad novel paints a moving portrait of a town trying to move on with life after the worst thing imaginable happens. | ||
|
Plot & Themes Tone of book? - depressed Time/era of story - 1980's-1999 Internal struggle/realization? Yes Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book War/Revolt/Disaster on civilians Yes Coping with loss of loved one(s) Yes Loss of... Conflict: Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 4 () United States Yes The US: - Northeast Small town? Yes Small town people: - nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee - very gullible, like Gomer Pyle - hostile, like Gomer Pyle on steroids Writing Style Sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - vague references only - rape/molest Lot of foul language? Yes Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
||