That's Not What Happened

[Maggie]

I recommend reading That’s Not What Happened by Kody Keplinger. This book is full of emotion, secrets, and complicated relationships. Keplinger presents relatable characters and explores the importance of telling the truth. We know from the beginning that there was a school shooting, and there were six “survivors” who witnessed parts of it. One of the survivors does not show up to school, but we aren’t told why at first. The author skillfully drops little hints over the course of the novel about what actually happened, and it definitely kept me interested. We follow the narrator Lee who is one of the survivors and whose best friend died in the shooting. Lee struggles with guilt over a secret she has kept since the shooting happened, and she has to decide whether to tell the truth at the risk of hurting more people or continue to endure the guilt. I won’t tell you what the secret is; you’ll have to read it to find out.