Lauren Hogg, one of the survivors of the shooting at the Marjory
Stoneman Douglas school in Parkland, Florida, dramatically tells her
story in graphic novel form. The tragedy of yet another mass shooting
has galvanized the young people of the country, and helped launch a
movement that continues to gain momentum. Lauren Hogg lost her two best
friends that horrible day, but despite her loss she, along with other
Parkland students, found her voice and created meaning from the horrors
of that day.
On February 14, 2018, Valentine's Day, Lauren Elizabeth Hogg lost her
two best friends in the now notorious school shooting at Marjory
Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. In all, seventeen
people were gunned down by the shooter, a student at the school.
Survivors of that tragic day vowed to rise up and fight for their
right--and the right of kids everywhere--to safety in their schools.
Lauren and her brother David were brought up together in a tight-knit
family, where lessons about compassion, responsibility, and civic duty
were always a part of their lives. Their mother, Rebecca Boldrick Hogg,
has long pursued a life of activism, working to help the less fortunate
in her community. Their father, Kevin Hogg, a retired FBI agent,
dedicated his life to keeping citizens safe and secure.
But neither parent could do much to answer Lauren's tearful questions
after that horrific day: "Why not me? Why am I still here?" All they
could do was urge her to put her lessons to work. She has done that
here, by telling her own story in this powerful graphic novel about that
fateful day--and beyond.
Through her grief, Lauren found her calling, joining in the protests of
#NeverAgain and the "March for Our Lives." She and her brother, and so
many other Parkland students refuse to allow the memory of their fallen
classmates to be forgotten. Empowered with a unique voice, Lauren
Elizabeth Hogg is truly an activist for our times.
