One of the Survivors: Joey is one of two students in his high school history class who escape and survive the fire that destroys his school.  The book starts with Joey waking up from a nightmare – seeing the school burning while he is trying to go inside and save his cat. And his mother.  And all the other students in his class. The rest of the book is about Joey dealing with his grief, trying to reconnect with Maureen, the other survivor, and the blame placed on him by most of the students and much of the community. People need someone to blame and they blame Joey and Maureen – after all, they were the only survivors from their class, they must have survived because they started the fire themselves and escaped. Without being weepy or preachy, Shaw deals with a difficult situation in a way that is plausible and understandable. The book is short, just under 200 pages, and alternates between narrative and a journal Joey is advised to start to help him through his grief. This might sell well to some of my reluctant readers.