Fight. Flight. Freeze. What do you do when you can’t move on, even though the rest of the world seems to have? From National Book Award–longlisted author Bryan Bliss, Thoughts and Prayers follows three high school students in the aftermath of a school shooting, and is told in three loosely connected but inextricably intertwined stories. An unflinching novel for readers of Jason Reynolds, Marieke Nijkamp, and Laurie Halse Anderson. Claire, Eleanor, and Brezzen have little in common. Except for the fact that a year ago, they all hid under the same staircase and heard the shots that took the lives of some of their classmates and a teacher. Now, each one copes with the trauma as best as they can as the world around them keeps moving. Thoughts and Prayers is a story about gun violence, but more importantly it is the story of what happens after the reporters leave and the news cycle moves on to the next tragedy. It is the story of three unforgettable teens who feel forgotten.

