The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Cox, John Woodrow. Children Under Fire: An American Crisis. Ecco, 2021.

John Woodrow Cox focuses on two key figures in Children Under Fire: An American Crisis. Both children are victims of gun violence. Ava Olsen lives in rural Upstate South Carolina, and Tyshaun McPhatter lives in Southeast Washington, D.C. Ava’s mother, Mary, read about Tyshaun’s loss of his father in Cox’s Washington Post reporting, and she thought that the children could be friends and pen pals, perhaps providing solace to each other. She was right.

Unfortunately, Ava continues to struggle with the violence she experienced on the playground when Jesse Osborne, then 14 years old, opened fire on first-graders who were walking out to recess. Jesse shot and killed Jacob Hall on September 28, 2016. Ava and Jacob were best friends. They played together, and Ava had invited him over to her house and asked him if he wanted to get married.

Tyshaun also struggles in the wake of gun violence. In fact, Tyshaun worried about gun violence from a very young age. He was only six years old when he first heard shots ring out. His father, Andrew McPhatter, was shot at multiple times before he was gunned down in the Southeast. After the murder, Tyshaun worried that detectives would never find his father’s killer. This time they did. His name is Derek Turner, and he had been in trouble many times before this shooting. Tyshaun remains distraught over the loss of his father, and his school performance deteriorates. He throws chairs and pulls signs off the walls. When he cannot get his behavior under control, he is excused to the Pride Room where he can be kept safe until the episode passes.

Ava suffers in a similar manner although because of a pediatrician’s diagnosis of severe post-traumatic stress disorder, she is being homeschooled by her mother, Mary. She continues to experience rages when triggered by loud noises, and at one point Cox even witnesses Ava spit at both of her parents. She also pulls out her eyelashes and hits herself, signs of severe stress.

Ava’s teacher Megan Hollingsworth likewise struggles after the playground shooting. She shows signs of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression including nightmares about the shooting. She teaches third grade now, partly because the third grade classrooms are further away from the scene of the shooting. She continues to take antidepressants.

Next, Cox investigates the big business that has sprung up in the aftermath of school shootings. The offerings range from up-armored white boards to high tech classroom doors. Cox remains skeptical of many of the products he discovers, especially when he sees their price tags. Cox sees capitalism at its worst as he strolls through the National School Safety Conference held at an Orlando hotel in July of 2018. In the book’s Epilogue, Cox makes three basic recommendations about dealing with gun violence in America. The first recommendation is for background checks, and the second is an appeal to gun owners to separate children from guns in any way possible. The book ends with a clear call to fund more research on gun violence.