Point-Blank Shot

Point-Blank Shot is about Jordan Cooper, a 17-year-old high school senior, who lives in Fargo, ND. Like all her friends, Jordan has grown up hearing about school shootings across the US, which leaves her fearing that someday she might be the next victim of one. When Jordan has to write an assignment about school shootings, things spiral downwards and she often surrenders to tears, nightmares, and despair. As Jordan struggles to complete her assignment, she suddenly comes face-to-face with what might turn out to be her hope in the middle of hopelessness; she develops an infatuation for a young, foreign boy.

Excerpt from the bookHe pivots around, probably to detect where the biggest groups of students are, before he decides to stand still facing in my direction. We are separated by less than 10 feet and his arm is facing so precisely in my direction that if I ran straight ahead I would run right into the barrel of his gun. My body is incapable of moving, which gives him the easiest opportunity in the world for a point-blank shot. I am looking at him with eyes that are begging for mercy, but the eyes facing mine are as dead as the many bodies lying around him.  This is it, I am thinking. He is going to kill me.

About the authorESBEN LAURSEN has a master’s degree in English from the University of Copenhagen. Has 12 years of teaching experience from Solrød Gymnasium. Knows about the US education system through an exchange student program and through a job swap, during which he taught at a high school in New York. Author of the book Burning Bridges.