Nineteen Minutes: A novel

Jodi Picoult

Mar 2007 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

Jodi Picoult, bestselling author of My Sister's Keeper and Small Great Things 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 a school shooting. 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.

Ratings and reviews

Excellent book, gripping story. I have one fault to pick. A story about school violence doesn't depict in any way what employees might be going through during and after such an event and the story depicts them very much as apathetic which may seem the case for a victim of bullying but in reality is usually not the case. Realistically the number of students outweigh the number of adults making it a near impossibility to prevent bullying.

I love how your able to peek inside the head's of these characters that obviously reflect real life people in those types of situations. You see that maybe, the parents of these shooters really didn't know that things were that bad. And that if people work together as a society then maybe we can get a better grasp on this. Otherwise its likely that everyone turned a blind eye or thinks that someone else will or should deal with it. That's why I talk to my daughter and tell her that if she see any red flags or hears something, that she is to tell at least 3 teachers and the principle so that hopefully something bad can be prevented. In this day and age, you can't expect your children's safety at school, you need to talk to your kids and tell them what to do to protect themselves. Because there's way more students than teachers. And it makes you look at real life school shootings so differently. A difficult read but a must read.

I believed it was loosely based on some school rampage cases because it was mentioned several time in the book. I like the portrayal of Peter Houghton, Josie Cormier and many more characters here. It was well-written book. In fact this is the book that I highly recommend you to read. No regret. I cried when I read the book and even when I write this review.This is the story of Peter Houghton, the boy who scream from the inside to be heard and at least to be left alone (from the bully). This is the story of Josie Cormier,the tough girl who thought she knew how to survive in the pressure of teen life yet confuse about her needs,her life and her identity. This is the story of two bestfriend and two mother - Alex Cormier and Lacy Houghton. This is the story of two family and a school and a community. This is the story from the other side. The story far different from the teen movies tried to portray. This might not be a true story but it resonate with a real life. Someone out there just want to be heard... Maybe if we can spend some time or give them some space we might save their lives... and thousand more.

About the author

Jodi Picoult received an AB 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 twenty-seven novels, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers House Rules, Handle With Care, Change of Heart, and My Sister’s Keeper, for which she received the American Library Association’s Margaret Alexander Edwards Award. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children. Visit her website at JodiPicoult.com.