That's Not What Happened centers around a school shooting, and what that leaves in it's aftermath. What sets this book aside from others with the a similar plot is that this mostly takes place a few years after the shooting, and really hits on the subject of how quickly stories spread, even if there's hardly any truth to them, in society today. This book also is very similar to the Columbine shooting and the story of Cassie Bernall. Throughout the entire book, the fictional-shooter's name is never printed, which I thought was a really fantastic detail to the story. Personally, I often see headlines of heroic actions, or even the opposite, after a tragedy or a huge event happens, and I've never stopped to think that maybe that situation isn't entirely how the media portrayed it to be. Keplinger does a fantastic job at pointing out the flaws in the media, and how we often, as a society, believe what we want to believe.
Leanne Bauer has spent the last three years attempting to move on, and reclaim some normalcy to her life. After losing her best friend, Sarah, in a school shooting, she's not really sure how to move on. Making it even more difficult to move on is the fact that Sarah's "story" has been played out repeatedly in the media. The biggest issue with this, is that the story the media is telling isn't true. Everyone thinks that Sarah died immediately after proclaiming her faith to the shooter, but Leanne knows that isn't true because she was in the bathroom stall with Sarah when she died. Three years later, Leanne has kept this secret to herself because she doesn't want to face what she's sure will come if she speaks up, and also doesn't want to tarnish Sarah's name. But, Leanne is about to graduate, and Sarah's parents are about to publish a book about Sarah's story, so she knows this may be her last chance to really get the truth out there.
