Kevin grows up a very creepy boy, scaring away his playgroup and a series of baby sitters. From the moment he is born and rejects his mother’s breasts, his mother Eva senses there’s something wrong. But unlike many of the school shooters in the news, many of whom seem to have led tragic lives as social outcasts, Kevin appears more like a psychopath than a troubled victim. Kevin is about the family of a teenager who kills his classmates and a teacher. It’s chilling and disturbing, and you won’t want to put the book down. My last book of 2011, and my first of 2012, We Need to Talk About Kevin is even more powerful than I remembered. Still, her enthusiasm so intrigued me that I decided to read it again. I finally had to admit that it’s been years since I’d read it, so I was fuzzy on some of the details. She devoured it overnight, and the next day was still so disturbed that she wanted to talk about it. Much later that night, she woke me up: “I thought you said it wasn’t creepy?!” Oops. That night, she asked me if she could read it before sleeping: “It’s not too creepy, is it? Because the trailer looked very creepy.” I assured her that I remember it being very emotional, but not quite as horror-movie as the movie trailer suggested. My sister and I saw the trailer, and my sister was so intrigued by it that we immediately bought a copy of the book. I didn’t remember a lot of the details, but I do remember thinking it was a very emotionally powerful book.Ĭonfession: I re-read it because of the movie.

I first read it a few years ago, when it was getting a lot of buzz.

Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk About Kevin is far from the celebratory type of book that I suppose would be more appropriate a way to ring in the New Year, but it’s definitely a must read.

Endgame by nancy garden