Why Parents Should Be Reading the Gripped Series

Written by Timmy Weiss, Weston, MA

Timmy Weiss is a senior at St. Sebastian’s high school.  He is a varsity tennis and varsity soccer player, as well as a part of MPA (men with positive attitudes), the newspaper named The Walrus, and the peer mentoring club. He enjoys traveling, spending time with family and friends, volunteering, and going to sports games. Soon he hopes to study communications in college. 

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Gripped Part 3: The Fallout by Stacy Padula touches upon the use of Adderall, acid, marijuana, alcohol, and Xanax. For that reason, parents may not want their children to read the novel. However, the book touches upon use of these drugs so that people can realize the dangers of using them.  The reason the book stresses so much how Jason and Cathy’s personalities have changed so much since they started to take drugs is so that people understand drugs change us.  Cathy always tells Jason he is an “A-hole” when he trips or drinks alcohol.  Overall, mentioning these drugs is a way for kids to understand why we shouldn’t want to do them. Adults could easily benefit from reading this book because it would help them to better understand the situations that teen children can get themselves into.  For example, Cathy Kagelli, an extremely innocent girl just a couple of years prior, completely changes and starts using drugs to help her anxiety.  Parents need to realize even the best kids can get caught up in this stuff and notice immediately if our children are acting weird so they can take action in helping them.  

Synopsis

After a near-death experience, Chris Dunkin begins surrounding himself with positive influences and putting his efforts towards living a clean lifestyle. However, the night before school starts, his best friend Jason convinces him to host a party that shows Chris more about himself than he actually wants to know.

Meanwhile, Marc Dunkin has received word from a detective that his oldest brother Taylor is a person of interest in a highly confidential case headed by the Boston Police Department. They know Taylor’s clean; they know he wants out of the game; and they want to help make that happen. However, their “help” will come at a cost-one that may put Taylor and his entire family in grave danger. Taylor is trying to get his life back in order after an opiate addiction wreaked havoc on his once promising athletic future. Getting clean was a difficult feat, but breaking free from the Bilotti crime ring will present an even greater challenge.