After

After a school shooting in nearby Pleasant Valley, everyone at Tom Bishop's school, Central High, is a little on edge. When Central starts to up safety expectations, adding metal detectors at the door, most people don't like it but go along. Then Dr. Willard, the new and extremely stern guidance counselor begins pushing the rules into the bizarre-no wearing the color red, random drug tests, and more-Tom knows things are not as they seem. Kids that are labeled trouble-makers are sent to "rehabilitation camps", so Tom keeps his mouth shut. When some of those kids don't ever make it home, he knows it is time to get out of Central for good.


After by Francine Prose is a book that isn't for everyone. It is for the readers who enjoy thinking and puzzling about a world that doesn't quite fit. It has some action, but that isn't the base of the book. I enjoy it because it really takes your mind into the "what if" places-What if this happened at my school? What would people say? Who would be sent away? Who would just walk with their heads down? Who would stand up?