Nineteen Minutes

Reader reviewed by Emma

The book Nineteen Minutes is about a boy, Peter, who all his life has been bullied. He is constantly being made fun of and ridiculed for just being different. So, one day Peter wakes up and decides to do something about it. He brings guns to school and shoots and kills many people. Nobody was expecting him to do this however. Then again, does anyone ever expect someone to bring a gun to school? Nineteen Minutes also shows how Peters' actions affect everyone around him. Josie, Peters' once best friend, is one of those people that has been affected. Before the shooting occurred Josie was in the "in" group, she was considered one of the cool kids. But what people didn't know was that she really didn't belong. She hid her true self because she was scared that people would think she was a freak, like Peter.

Reader reviewed by Dede

This story revolves around a community when they are hardest hit. Peter, who one day walks into school and changes everyone's life in 19 minutes of shooting, killing and wounding. His mother Lacy struggles to make sense of the sweet son she remembers through the years and the monster who would do what he did. Josie, Peter's one time friend before she became popular, who was not shot even though her boyfriend Matt was fatally shot. Josie's mother is a judge with a strong sense of justice that makes this book even more heartbreaking. Jodi Picoult writes with such passion, I was crying before I was even halfway through the book. It makes you wonder what if, it is one of those rare books who make you want to make the most out of life because it IS precious and you never know when something will damage it.

Reader reviewed by Stephanie

No one in the quiet community of Sterling, New Hampshire would have guessed that in nineteen minutes on a cool March morning, their whole world could be turned upside down, and their town could be national news. A judge, her daughter, a midwife, her murderous son, a detective, a defense attorney and his family--these are just some of the lives that cross paths in this very touching story of what drives a poor, bullied victim to commit such a terrifying act of violence.

This is a typical Jodi Picoult novel: touching, tender, and real, with no definitive answers. It also has an equally unsatisfying Picoult-like ending, which was the only part of this book that I didn't enjoy. Nevertheless, I would read it again, for her pitch-perfect portrayal of different people.