Luis D. Aponte's A Safe Place: How to Prevent the Next School Shooting Receives National Recognition as NYC Big Book Award® True Crime Category Winner

MANASSAS, Va., Sept. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Luis D. Aponte's A Safe Place: How to Prevent the Next School Shooting has been recognized as the True Crime category winner of the NYC Big Book Award®, bringing national recognition to a book built on seven years of research into one of America's most urgent crises: school gun violence.

For parents, educators, community leaders, and candidates for public office, the book offers a fact-based, nonpartisan examination of school shootings and the patterns Aponte identified through his research. A librarian, veteran, and survivor of gun violence, Aponte examined 1,204 U.S. school shootings spanning three decades, looking beyond individual headlines to identify overlooked patterns and potential avenues for prevention.

Among the book's findings is a challenge to commonly held assumptions about what drives school shootings. Aponte's research identifies arguments, feuds, and unresolved conflicts (not mental illness or video games) as the leading triggers of these tragedies. His prevention approach advocates teaching children emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, and gun safety as essential tools.

The recognition also places Aponte's work among a diverse international field of authors and publishers. The NYC Big Book Award received submissions from around the world, including the United States, Australia, Canada, China, Dubai, England, Germany, Ghana, Greece, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. Participants ranged from established authors and major publishing houses to first-time indie authors and presses.

Publishers represented this year included Beacon Press, Berrett-Koehler, Casemate, Edinburgh University Press, Forbes Books, Kiplinger Books, NYU Press, Palgrave Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Rizzoli, Routledge, the White House Historical Association, University of California Press, and Wiley.

The competition is judged by experts from different aspects of the book industry, including publishers, booksellers, and librarians, with winners and distinguished favorites selected based on overall excellence.

"We have an amazing list of authors from around the globe participating this year," said awards sponsor Gabby Olczak. "I'm so excited to share these books with a worldwide readership!"

For Aponte, the award brings the findings of A Safe Place into an international literary forum while highlighting the book's central focus: examining school shootings through extensive research and identifying practical areas for prevention.

See the NYC Big Book winners at www.nycbigbookaward.com. The NYC Big Book Award is announced every fall.

The NYC Big Book Award is open to all authors, publishers, and illustrators, including submissions from the Big Five publishers. The Awards Dinner will be held April 10.

About A Safe Place: How to Prevent the Next School Shooting

A Safe Place: How to Prevent the Next School Shooting is a fact-based, nonpartisan exploration of school gun violence based on seven years of research into 1,204 U.S. school shootings spanning three decades. Aponte examines patterns and triggers associated with these tragedies and advocates emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, and gun safety as tools for prevention. www.asafeplacebook.com 

Contact: Luis D. Aponte / 352-217-7908 / [email protected] 

SOURCE Luis D. Aponte