Only Child opens with a tense and heartbreaking scene as Zach Taylor and the rest of his first grade class huddle in a closet waiting for the gunfire of an active shooter in their school to stop. Zach is six and though his class has practiced hiding like this, he and his classmates don't really know what's happening. They just know that they're scared and confused. Once Zach leaves that closet, he'll find the world as he knew it has irrevocably changed - because while Zach has survived, his older brother Andy has not. And that fact sends his family into a deep tailspin, all while Zach tries to navigate his new "normal".
In the aftermath of their loss, Zach's parents find different ways of coping. While his dad tries to hold things together and move forward, his mother is caught in a rage spiral against the shooter's family. Neither is able to be fully there for Zach - which while understandable to the adults around them, is deeply difficult and painful for Zach. As his family implodes, Zach is left to try and piece together a way to be happy. His struggle to recover leads him to ways he can perhaps help his parents too.
The novel is told entirely from Zach's point of view and his voice works to effectively ground the reader as the author explores the reverberations of the shooting. Given the subject matter, it's not a surprise that this is a gut-punch of a novel. What did surprise and work so well were the rays of hope that Zach is able to create and share with the adults in his life.