Another Day in the Death of America

Shortlisted for The Orwell Prize 2017Read an exclusive introduction to Another Day in the Death of America by Gary Younge in which he discusses the politics behind America's stance on gun control. Shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize 2016 and The Bread and Roses Award 2017 Saturday, 23rd November 2013. It was just another day in America. And as befits an unremarkable day, ten children and teens were killed by gunfire. Far from being considered newsworthy, these everyday fatalities are simply a banal fact. The youngest was nine; the oldest nineteen. None made the news. There was no outrage at their passing. It was simply a day like any other day. Gary Younge picked it at random, searched for the families of these children and here, tells their stories. Another Day in the Death of America explores the way these children lived and lost their short lives, offering a searing portrait of the vulnerability of youth in contemporary America. The nine-year-old opened the door and was shot in the head by his mother's ex-boyfriend. The eleven-year-old was killed by his friend at a sleep over in rural Michigan. The eighteen-year-old gang member, on Chicago's South Side, was shot in a stairwell just days after being released from prison. Through ten moving chapters - one for each child - Younge explores the way these children lived and lost their short lives. He finds out who they were, who they wanted to be, the environments they inhabited, and what this might tell us about society at large. What emerges is a searing portrait of childhood and youth in contemporary America. ‘This might not be a book to make you eagerly turn pages, only because you might need to put it down to catch your breath and marshal your feelings, as one heartrending story follows another.’ – The Sunday Times