Summary

In Chapter 1 entitled “I Hate Guns," Ava Olsen, 7, and Tyshaun McPhatter, 8, become pen pals after Ava’s mom, Mary, reads an article in the Washington Post about the death of Tyshaun’s father, Andrew. Ava thought he looked sad and empty in the photographs that accompanied the Post article, so she began writing to him. At first, Ava and Tyshaun might seem to have little in common. Ava is white and lives in rural South Carolina, and Tyshaun is black and lives in Washington, D.C. What the two have in common is that they both have been greatly affected by gun violence.

Chapter 2 entitled “What Happened to Jacob?” takes place in Townville, South Carolina. Ava was in first grade and was headed to the playground when a teenager, Jesse Osborne, 14, pulled up in front of the elementary school, yelled “I hate my...