I keep a list of books I want to read one day.  I must have written this one down incorrectly, and now it is driving me crazy.  I have in my notes A Firing Offense by George P. Pelecanos, which is his true story of, at age 16, accidentally shooting his friend.  I distinctly remember (I think!) seeing him interviewed on TV about this book.   However, I can now find no evidence that this book exists.  I have googled it every way possible.

Can anyone help me locate this book?  Possibly a different author?  Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Stephanie

It exists. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/307534.A_Firing_Offense

The paperback has a wishlist here. http://www.paperbackswap.com/book/details/9781852427153-A+Firing+Offense+Five+Star+Title

Britney, thank you for replying!  But now I see I worded my original question incorrectly.  The book you linked is indeed A Firing Offence, but it's not the true account of how he shot his friend when he was a kid.  That's why I am thinking I wrote the author's name down incorrectly, or got the title wrong, or something.   Unfortunately, that's not the book I am looking for.

But thank you so much for your help!!

Here is a link to the author's website: http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/features/georgepelecanos/news/

I don't see any nonfiction books that he has written. Perhaps he hasn't written the book yet?

This probably isn't what you are looking for, but there is a memoir written by Kemp Powers called The Shooting. When he was 14 he accidentally shot and killed his best friend. http://www.amazon.com/Shooting-Memoir-Kemp-Powers/dp/1568583206

ETA: George Pelecanos did shoot his friend in the face when he was 17: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jul/27/television.books.culture 

Thank you also Sheila and Janelle for replying!!

Janelle the book by Kemp Powers is indeed interesting; I will look for it.  But I am most intrigued by the link you provided about George Pelacanos shooting his friend....but the link doesn't open sucessfully.  It says it "won't serve the page you're looking for".  Any chance you could post a different link?  I thank you in advance for any additional help!!

Here's another link to a different interview: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,214646,00.html.

If you want to find the original article I posted since the link for some reason won't work, Google George Pelecanos shot friend. It should be the second result-- Murder He Wrote. It's from the Guardian.

And here is the part of the Guardian article that mentions the shooting:

He is still haunted by the time that he should have been at school, but was instead playing around with his father's gun and accidentally shot his friend in the face. Luckily, his friend was OK; they are still close. 'Imagine what I felt like that day. I was 17 years old and it was over for me. Nothing was ever going to happen for me again. But look.'

Janelle----wow!!  BIG THANK YOU!!  When I said I'd googled it every way possible, I can see now I meant every way but the right way!!  Thank you so much for helping me solve this mystery.  It has been just in my head for a few years and bugging me.  Well, I hope one day Pelecanos does indeed write the book I've been thinking about!!

Well, now to see if I can find a copy of the Kemp Powers book. 

Thanks again, Janelle, I really really appreciate your help and time.

Stephanie