Styles

Structure

Children Under Fire is divided into sixteen chapters, many of which zero in on the lived experience of Ava Olsen and Tyshaun McPhatter. Cox visits both children and their families, and he is able to record their own words about the tragedies that have befallen them. As a meditative buffer between chapters about the children, Cox takes up offshoots of his investigative journalism, namely the subjects of gun trafficking, the overwhelming political power of the NRA, and the profit incentives of the school safety industry. Even though it is difficult and painful, Cox does his best to tell the story of the shooting of Jacob Hall from the perspective of the fifteen-year-old gunman as well. He deals directly with criticism about bringing attention to the shooter. In Jesse's case there is "a clear public good in exposing who he really was--and highlighting the many warning signs that...