19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult

About the book:

Jodi Picoult, bestselling author of My Sister's Keeper and The Tenth Circle, pens her most riveting book yet, with a startling and poignant story about the devastating aftermath of a small-town tragedy.

Sterling is an ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens--until the day its complacency is shattered by an act of violence. Josie Cormier, the daughter of the judge sitting on the case, should be the state's best witness, but she can't remember what happened before her very own eyes--or can she?

As the trial progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show--destroying the closest of friendships and families. Nineteen Minutes asks what it means to be different in our society, who has the right to judge someone else, and whether anyone is ever really who they seem to be.

Review:

Within the first 19 pages of this book, you will be hooked!

This is an intricately woven tale which involves children growing up through adolescence and the problems they face, socially, due to their educational experiences.

This author takes us back and forth, chapter by chapter, between kindergarten and high school, and eventually we end up smack-dab in the present.

It's remarkable to see how much of a sympathetic relationship you will build with the character of Peter Houghton. You will feel every inch of his pain as he is bullied through his elementary and high school experience. His emotionally misdirected parents only fuel his misery. He is and always has been a victim because he is different from his peers. Finally, he succumbs to this pressure.

The ending is unassuming and intensely surprising. This book will keep you turning pages-every minute feeling sad, mad, hate, love, and ultimately, what seems like, justifiable revenge. It will give you a true glimpse into the human psyche.

About the Author:

Jodi Picoult received an A.B. in creative writing from Princeton and a master's degree in education from Harvard. The recipient of the 2003 New England Book Award for her entire body of work, she is the author of fourteen novels, including The Tenth Circle, Vanishing Acts, and My Sister's Keeper, for which she received the American Library Association's Margaret Alexander Edwards Award. Recently, she penned several issues of Wonder Woman for DC Comics. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children. Visit her website at www.jodipicoult.com.