Easy Target Book Recommendation

Hi, guys! When I was on spring break, I stayed up rereading a book that I love and that greatly impacted me in how I saw others. After I finished and wiped away the tears from my face and was ready to jump up and down, I was determined to write a book recommendation for it. You guessed it, the book was Easy Target by Tim Shoemaker (hence the title of this blog post!). I have mentioned this book often before, and I am probably a broken record, but I love it so much. It’s a tough book with what it handles, and it definitely is not a little kid’s book, but its messages are very true and timely.

The book follows an ex-homeschooled Christian kid named Hudson Sutton, who is put into a public school for the first time. His dad lost his job, and so his dad and his mom both are working jobs to make ends meet. In the beginning of the book, he is trying to make friends, and he happens to meet a boy nicknamed “Pancake” and a girl named Maggie. Hudson stands up for his new friend Pancake when the bullies try to mess with him. This makes him a target for them. Hudson wants to keep himself from being bullied, but he also wants to keep his friends from being hurt. He comes up with a plan to stop them through a project that he is doing for school. The problem is that Hudson begins to doubt whether his plan will actually work or if it is truly right at all. Is it possible that trying to fight back against the bullies can turn him into a bully himself?

This book was wonderful in my opinion, but like I said, it is not for everyone. The back of the book says it is for ages 12-14, but as a homeschooler, I was surprised by some of the things in the book, even though I was in high school when I read it. I was shocked that some of these things were going on in middle school, and if I were a parent, I would not want my middle school kids to deal with these things until they were older. However, I know that for many public and private schools, the terrible things in Easy Target are things they have to deal with, even at a young age. There is nothing explicit in this book and there is no language, but there is some violence and some heavy topics. Suicide is also something that is addressed in this book, so be aware of that. Also, one girl is accused of being suggestive, even though she is not and she is disgusted by the thought.

Now, you may be saying, why read this if it is so heavy? I would say, first, that a lot of the book is not this dark. The main characters, especially Hudson and Pancake, give needed lightheartedness to the book, and there are plenty of funny and witty lines in this book. Not only that, but the values of hope, kindness, faith, and friendship shine through even through the darkness that the characters experience. It is also simply an entertaining read. The writing style is engaging and conversational, and the main characters are unique and relatable. I loved the themes woven through this book, and the climax at the end was beautifully done.

I think the most important thing about this book for me was the way that it helped me see that kids in public school are not so different from me, and they have struggles and pain that I did not think about as a homeschooler. It was published in 2021, so it feels very relevant, especially as it addresses things like how technology affects kids. This book brings awareness to real problems that modern public schools have, and it helps filter these issues through a Christian worldview. In my opinion, Easy Target is a great read because it combines real issues with relatable, flawed characters and a beautiful truthful message.

~Evelyn Knight