Monday, May 18, 2009

By the Chapter, Day 1 - Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult


Welcome to By the Chapter, an event hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. We will be reading and discussing Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult.


Synopsis from publisher:

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?


Be sure to stop by The Printed Page today, where Marcia will be posting her first thoughts about the book to get us started!

This week's reading schedule:

Monday - Marcia at The Printed Page

Wednesday - Me, here at Need More Shelves

Friday - Marcia at The Printed Page, and me


3 comments:

Jenners said...

I'm a big Jodi Picoult fan -- I love how she writes such completely different books each time. This was one of her better ones I thought, and I liked how she approached this topic. You could add it to a list of "school shooting" books like "We Need To Talk About Kevin" and "The Hour I First Believed" and have quite a discussion on everyone's takes on this topic.

Cath said...

This wasn't one of my favorite Picoult books, but I do remember reading it in one long gulp and enjoying it very much. Loved this review!

Elizabeth said...

Jenners - I'm a bit hit or miss on Picoult, so we'll have to see how this one ends up. It will be an interesting comparison to "The Hour I First Believed".

Connie - well, I hope I like it better than The Tenth Circle - that was a real bomb for me.