Hopefully, those shine through in Columbine. I was amazed by their spirit and by stunning moments of redemption. Thousands of students and parents faced the unthinkable most overcame it, many in extraordinary ways. Their stories are surprisingly uplifting - such a refreshing contrast to Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. The survivors proved equally illuminating. Their motives and personalities were poles apart. Eric Harris was monstrous Dylan Klebold was loving but bitterly angry inside - a tender boy torn apart. The key to comprehending Columbine is letting go of our concept of 'the killers.' Spend a few pages with Dylan and Eric, and you'll discover two starkly disparate boys. They planned to mow down survivors fleeing the the burning rubble for 'fun.' And it would end with more bombs. Eric built his bombs to dwarf Oklahoma City. They ridiculed school shooters as losers. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold didn't even envision a school shooting. It wasn't about jocks, Goths or the Trench Coat Mafia. My surprise was that most of what we 'know' about Columbine was wrong. I arrived at Columbine the first hour of the shooting, and spent ten years on this book. I was driven by two questions: why did they do it, and how did this shattered community recovery?