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Camila Kerwin
THE LEADING CAUSE
Camila Kerwin is a journalist who makes comics and radio. She is a regular comics contributor to the Boston Globe. Her work has appeared in the Miami Herald, Marketplace, NPR’s Morning Edition, and elsewhere. She illustrated WLRN’s Edward R. Murrow Award-winner, Class of Covid.
In 2020, for the first time in history, firearms became the leading cause of death for Americans under 18. The Leading Cause is a nonfiction collection of profiles of five kids who have died of gun violence or gun negligence.
The book does not belabor the circumstances of the kids’ deaths. Instead, it focuses on key moments that paint a picture of who they were as people. It also interweaves a historical narrative about how gun culture and legislation has evolved throughout US history, often in the background of the kids’ lives. It highlights key turning points and characters who have played a role in the proliferation of guns in the US, including the 19th-century formation of the National Rifle Association; the NRA’s dramatic transformation from a sportsmen’s organization to a gun-lobbying juggernaut; the backstory of former NRA president Marion Hammer; the 2008 Supreme Court case D.C. v. Heller, which concluded that the 2nd Amendment protected an individual’s right to bear arms, not just a state’s right to form a militia; and the systematic blocking of federal child access prevention laws and other gun safety policy.
The Leading Cause adheres to a high journalistic standard of accuracy, verification, and an honest handling of evidence cited by both gun control supporters and gun proponents. Above all, it is a tribute to the lives of these five kids, and the loved ones they’ve left behind.
Digital drawing, 6 × 9 in.
Digital drawing, 6 × 9 in.
Digital drawing, 6 × 9 in.