The Terrorist

This book was so good.

I was read this book in the 7th grade. That was years before 9/11. It was english class. The teacher read it aloud, everyone would listen to it. We were all very attentive. We had worksheets around the book, questions about characters, setting, emotions. Typical 7th grade questions about books. One day, we were told that Mrs. Cooney would be coming to our school to talk about being an author and expectations of the real world. When I heard about this, I had one question I wanted to ask her. Maybe a little background here would be good. I was born Muslim. At this point in my 28 years of living, I am still Muslim. Now, I'm not the greatest Muslim out there, I don't pray, I don't fast, I don't really do much. But at the time in my story, I did.Back to the story...I asked my teacher if I could ask her why she made the bad guy a Muslim? The teacher thought it was an appropriate question to ask. She too was interested by one would pick them, or any other person. The day came when she was at the school. We all gathered in the dual purpose cafeteria/ assembly hall. All students sat on the ground cross-legged or kneeling. Teachers we along the wall watching the students like hawks, making sure the class clowns didn't do something disruptive.Mrs. Cooney came on stage. She spoke for an hour or so. Telling some random stuff. I don't full recall what it was. I was too focused on understanding the motivation for her to paint a vivid picture of a religion, based on one persons actions.She ended her speech and took no questions. Everyone left and the room was emptied within minutes. Only a few lingering teachers and school staff stayed back to bs about whatever. My teacher led my up to her to ask my question. I was nervous. I was a teenager, I was being hit by puberty. Acne popping up, greasy face. I was a typical teenage boy at the time. Just like everyone else. But at that moment, I was different from everyone else, I was nervous about asking a question.As my hands were sweaty and trembling, I reached out my hand to shake Mrs. Cooney's and introduced myself. My teacher had given her the background on why I had a question; it was because we read her book. The moment came, I asked with my squeaky pre-pubescent voice, "Why did you make the terrorist a Muslim?"Her reply still haunts me today, and makes me rethink allowing people to know that I identify with Islam. "Because all terrorists are Muslim." My head was shaken by this. "Because all terrorists are Muslim."That was it, I got an answer. My teacher and I thanked her for her time, and we walked back to the room. My stomach empty, feeling like I had been kicked. I had many more questions about this on the way home from school. "Am I going to be one when I grow up?" "What about my parents?" "Why do people see us that way?"When I got home, I greeted my mom and dad, went and played video games. I didn't tell them about this encounter I had. I didn't want have them get upset and contact the school. I didn't want to be that kid who had those parents that are upset about nothing. But now, now that I am older, I feel like I should have. I feel like my parents would have informed the school of this. If I had simply spoken up. But now it's too late.I do recommend reading this book. Reading is good. But I don't recommend drawing conclusions from a fiction book.I do recommend to reach out to Muslim and ask them about current events, and really understand how they feel about these "terrorists."

The Terrorist is an interesting read that I believe will appeal to readers of Blythe Woolston's Black Helicopters. While not as bleak, it definitely makes you question and think. Topic of The Terrorist is one that will remain relevant for a long time because the threat of terrorism is persistent.This story was appealing because I was curious as to how a teenage girl could possibly have the resources or ability to hunt the ones responsible for her brother's death. It seemed impossible. But the layout of the story provided the perfect opportunity, one that I would have never considered.While I did enjoy reading The Terrorist there were still some aspects of the book that seemed stuck in the original era that it was written in. Also, the descriptions of the different cultures was very generalized to fit the plot and didn't seem to be an accurate picture of Americans or Muslims, etc.

I got this book via the Libby app thru my local library. I liked this book a lot. I had a hard time putting it down. Be careful reading before sleep tho - I made that mistake and dreamed I was the main character! Not a restful night’s sleep! I struggled to finish it because I did not want it to end! I had no problem immersing myself into the story at all.

Interesting concept and sadly could be believable in the world we are living in. Makes you think about how innocent people can get involved

All in all I think the book The Terrorist was a good book for just about any age group 6th grade and up, that is definitely worth reading. It really raised my awareness of terrorism in the real world, making it more than just an idea in the back of my mind about something happening on the other side of the world. This fictional book took place in European London in the late 1900s and was about a teenage girl named Laura whose family had just moved to London from America because of her dad's job. Soon after the move, Laura's young and energetic brother, Billy, got blown into pieces by a terrorist's bomb. After being handed a package from a stranger in the Underground, Billy realizes the package must be a bomb and therefore wraps his body around it to shield the crowd around him, instead of throwing it into the crowd and saving himself. After this event, Laura focuses all of her sadness into an obsession of finding her brother's killer, thinking of everyone around her as a suspect, even her closest friends. Caroline Cooney did a great job with the beginning of the book and creating enough suspense and mystery to catch the reader and cause him/her to not put the book down. She also explained Laura's character and her obsession of finding Billy's killer amazingly well and did a great job of putting you in Laura's shoes. Though the beginning of The Terrorist is great, the story really slows down in the middle and gets pretty depressing after the pages and pages of Laura and her family mourning Billy's death and of Laura risking all of her friendships to try and find Billy's killer. Once you get past this point, the story picks up again and speeds toward a very thrilling and surprising climax. Caroline also ingeniously leaves you hanging at the end of the book. This really caused me to think over the book and the meaning of the last few chapters. I personally am not a very big fan of mystery books and even I greatly enjoyed this book so, though I would recommend this book to just about anyone, I would say that anyone who particularly enjoys mystery books should definitely go to their local library and pick up this book for a good read.

I read a lot of Cooney when I was young. All were good, gripping, suspenseful, but I remember this one being SAD.

This is a well written story that I will never forget! It’s a book that needs to be read.