Nineteen Minutes

By Jodi Picoult

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You should read this book! I don't often run across a book that I think could help transform a community if people read it but this is one of them. While it is a novel and so a work of fiction it is very clear that it was well researched and based on possible reality.

It opens with a young man walking into his high school and shooting, killing and wounding many students. The story really isn't about the event of the shooting, it is about what lead up to it and the immediate aftermath of this incredible disaster. If you have ever asked yourself if that kind of thing could happen in your school I think this will open your eyes to how easy it could happen. As with every event like this there is a story behind the perpetrator that most of us really don't want to hear about after the event.
Bouncing back and forth between the time of the shooting and its aftermath and the history that led up to it with the main characters she weaves a story while dealing this issues we all face every day. It will challenge you to think about our relationships with our children, parents, student, teachers and other peers. It deals with peer pressure including sex, bullying, beauty and athletics.
I hope you will take the time to read this and then talk to the kids in your life and ask the question, "How can I help make sure this doesn't happen here?"