Parkland mom hopes gruesome picture book on shootings jolts politicians

Children’s book shares Parkland shooting victim Joaquin Oliver’s story - The Washington Post

Patricia Oliver walked into Rep. Tony Cárdenas’s D.C. office last week and handed the California Democrat a new book she had written.

In his office, Cárdenas stared at the book in his hands for more than 10 seconds before retrieving tissues from his desk, video of the encounter shared with The Washington Post showed. He told Oliver through tears that he has a grandson named Joaquin.

“You made me realize that I pray that Joaquin never has his first school shooting,” Cárdenas told Oliver.

Since the Parkland shooting, Oliver and her husband, Manuel, have advocated for gun control, attending protests across the United States and founding Change the Ref, an advocacy group against gun violence. But as mass shootings continue, they created a children’s book in hopes of sharing their message in the simplest way.

The short book describes, through detailed illustrations and rhymes, the experiences of Joaquin and his high school classmates after a gunman entered their school.

“This is a specific way to raise to politicians and let them know in a very simple, childish way how important it is for them to take action,” Oliver, 56, told The Post. “It’s very powerful in the sense that the illustrations that you can see inside the book, the vocabulary that we use, the narrative that we use, it’s very simple and very hurtful. We believe that in this way, politicians will be touched by the need of doing something.”

After the May 2022 massacre at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Tex., creative directors at Burson Cohn & Wolfe, an international communications firm, developed the idea for a book about school shootings and asked the Olivers to collaborate.

For Oliver, the decision was easy. Joaquin had told his parents he wanted to make a difference in the world through writing. He often awoke in the middle of the night to pen love poems to his girlfriend, Victoria Gonzalez, and jot down his thoughts on gun and immigration issues.

The Olivers wanted readers to follow scenes from inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. The book’s title is meant to convey that school shootings have become normal for kids — like their first steps, first word or first vacation.

“This book is Joaquin’s story, but Joaquin’s story is everyone’s stories,” said Fede Garcia, Burson Cohn & Wolfe’s chief creative officer. “We all can be the face of the book.”

On the day of the shooting, Joaquin brought daisies to school for his girlfriend. On the book cover, he’s wearing a shirt with an avocado print — to represent his love for guacamole — and a black beanie he often sported. While many children’s books include finger holes to turn the pages, the holes used to progress through “Joaquin’s First School Shooting” are located on children’s bodies to simulate bullet holes.

“It’s the hardest book I’ve ever had to draw,” María Lavezzi, who has been an illustrator for 13 years, said in Spanish. “I cried and cried. It’s impossible for it not to spark something within you or at least make you question: What do we have to do to put an end to this violence?”

The first page sets the book’s tone. It displays an illustration of Joaquin lying dead on the floor with a Valentine’s Day card and paint surrounding him. Joaquin was in his creative writing class, composing cards for his girlfriend and his friends, at the time of the shooting.

“THE END OF THE DAY, WAS ALSO MY OWN. BLED OUT ON THE FLOOR, AND NEVER GOT HOME,” the page reads.

The other illustrations feature more dead children and bullets shattering a window. One picture shows crying kids running through a hallway next to colorful lockers.

Many words are printed in red to represent blood. The final illustration displays a protest in D.C. with the message: “WE MUST NOT FORGET, OR I’VE DIED IN VAIN! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, PLEASE … NEVER AGAIN!”

This year, 21 school shootings have occurred in the United States, according to The Post’s data.

“We went for the full impact because that’s what this situation needs,” said Garcia, the publisher’s chief creative officer. “You need to sometimes grab politicians by the collar.”

Within a week of shootings in Cleveland, Tex., Henryetta, Okla., and Atlanta, the book published May 5. The next day, a shooting occurred in an Allen, Tex., mall. The Olivers asked anyone who buys the book to send copies to politicians.

Still, Oliver said looking at the book is painful.

“But I immediately go back to normal,” Oliver said. “Because I have a duty in front of me, and I have to hold it very hard because that's what Joaquin wants from me.”

Last week, Oliver shared the book in D.C. with about 25 politicians representing both parties. Early in the week, she met with Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), who stopped and cried while reading the first page.

“Meeting with Joaquin’s parents just literally steels me to say, ‘We have to do something about this,’” Dean told The Post.

On May 10, after Oliver met with Minority Whip Katherine M. Clark (D-Mass.), Clark read the book on the House floor, directing her message to colleagues who she said “continue to prioritize guns over our children.”

“Let us remember all of the victims and remember that this is a choice,” Clark said after her reading. “We have solutions. We can end gun violence in this country.”

During Oliver’s meeting with Cárdenas, when the congressman told her that his grandson is also named Joaquin, Oliver apologized.

“I’m very sorry that I have to do this,” Oliver told Cárdenas. “But I have to.”

Placing a hand on Oliver’s shoulder, Cárdenas responded: “No, please don’t say that. You have to do this only because you care about everybody else.”

Oliver left D.C. on Saturday, uncertain whether the book changed gun supporters’ opinions. On Monday, as she prepared for another week of advocacy, she received an alert on her phone: A gunman had killed three people in Farmington, N.M.

“That’s why we have to keep working hard,” Oliver said. “Because this is killing us.”

María Luisa Paúl contributed to this report.