Nineteen Minutes: A Novel

Nineteen Minutes: A Novel
by Jodi Picoult

Nineteen Minutes: A Novel
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Book Summary Information

Author: Jodi Picoult
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-03-05
ISBN: 0739480715
Number of pages: 464
Publisher: Atria

Book Reviews of Nineteen Minutes: A Novel

Book Review: A High Schooler's View
Summary: 4 Stars

I usually get inspired to read books by my mother. When she finds a really good book she tells me about it and I become interested in it so I read it. I like this way because I don't like finding books on my own. I usually find a book I do not like. I like my mom finding the books because she knows what I am interested in. Also, I like how I have someone to talk about the book with; in case I do not understand what is happening.
This book is about a school shooting telling how and why the kid did it and the others who are affected by it. It dealt with many high school issues, like teasing, dating, peer pressure, mother-daughter relationship, and more. The author used these topics through many characters associated with the shooting. Jodi Picoult showed Josie dealing with dating and Peter confronting teasing. I liked how they used high school issues because I use them as advice for what to do when I am in that situation.
I liked how the book was exciting from start to finish. The action starts right way. It was hard to put down because I would read an exciting part and tell myself to stop after it and then another exciting part comes up. I liked the many different characters point of view. I liked the cop's point of view solving the case, the judge's decision, why the shooter shot everyone, and how the victim deals with the shock. I liked how real the book was. It was cool to see what lead the kid to shoot the kids. It scared me how it could happen at my school.
I did not like the parts when there was a touching mother and daughter moment. Also, the random judge cases like a girlfriend receives a stolen necklace from her boyfriend and claims she did not know it was stolen. Those parts were boring and did not understand why she put it in the book. Otherwise, I loved the book and would recommend it.
I would recommend this book to high school students. It opens teenagers eyes to what can happen. It shows them that a school shooting can happen to their school. Shootings are a problem for schools and Nineteen Minutes is a good example of what happens in those situations. The book shows me that it is serious and that people can die.

Summary of Nineteen Minutes: A Novel

In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five....In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world, or you can just jump off it. In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge.

Sterling is a small, ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens -- until the day its complacency is shattered by a shocking act of violence. In the aftermath, the town's residents must not only seek justice in order to begin healing but also come to terms with the role they played in the tragedy. For them, the lines between truth and fiction, right and wrong, insider and outsider have been obscured forever. Josie Cormier, the teenage daughter of the judge sitting on the case, could be the state's best witness, but she can't remember what happened in front of her own eyes. And 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 is New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult's most raw, honest, and important novel yet. Told with the straightforward style for which she has become known, it asks simple questions that have no easy answers: Can your own child become a mystery to you? What does it mean to be different in our society? Is it ever okay for a victim to strike back? And who -- if anyone -- has the right to judge someone else?


Best known for tackling controversial issues through richly told fictional accounts, Jodi Picoult's 14th novel, Nineteen Minutes, deals with the truth and consequences of a smalltown high-school shooting. Set in Sterling, New Hampshire, Picoult offers reads a glimpse of what would cause a 17-year-old to wake up one day, load his backpack with four guns, and kill nine students and one teacher in the span of nineteen minutes. As with any Picoult novel, the answers are never black and white, and it is her exceptional ability to blur the lines between right and wrong that make this author such a captivating storyteller.

On Peter Houghton's first day of kindergarten, he watched helplessly as an older boy ripped his lunch box out of his hands and threw it out the window. From that day on, his life was a series of humiliations, from having his pants pulled down in the cafeteria, to being called a freak at every turn. But can endless bullying justify murder? As Picoult attempts to answer this question, she shows us all sides of the equation, from the ruthless jock who loses his ability to speak after being shot in the head, to the mother who both blames and pities herself for producing what most would call a monster. Surrounding Peter's story is that of Josie Cormier, a former friend whose acceptance into the popular crowd hangs on a string that makes it impossible for her to reconcile her beliefs with her actions.

At times, Nineteen Minutes can seem tediously stereotypical-- jocks versus nerds, parent versus child, teacher versus student. Part of Picoult's gift is showing us the subtleties of these common dynamics, and the startling effects they often have on the moral landscape. As Peter's mother says at the end of this spellbinding novel, "Everyone would remember Peter for nineteen minutes of his life, but what about the other nine million?" --Gisele Toueg

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