NINETEEN MINUTES by Jodi Picoult
No author writing today has the ability to poke and probe into the minds of teenagers as authentically as Jodi Picoult. She did it in THE PACT; she did it in MY SISTER'S KEEPER; and she does it even more perceptively in her latest novel NINETEEN MINUTES. This book focuses on a "Columbine type shooting" at a high school in a small New England town. The motivation and the impact make up the core of the story. It is written as only Picoult can, with insight and understanding.
Peter Houghton is a high school junior who walks into his high school one day and starts shooting. By the time his nineteen minute killing spree is over ten people are dead and many more are wounded. One of the survivors is Josie Cormier, the daughter of a local judge. Josie and Peter were friends at one time but now they are little more than strangers.
Josie's mother is assigned this horrific case and her involvement signals an even further estrangement of mother and daughter. Josie feels neglected while her mother Alex just feels inept. She is a power on the bench but a failure on the home front. But as the days leading up to Peter's trial pass by, Alex and Josie begin to rebuild a communication of sorts.
Picoult also delves closely into Peter's past. It would be easy to paint him as a mentally disturbed young man who was a walking time bomb just waiting to explode. Instead Picoult describes a boy who was taunted and bullied from the earliest age. Going to school for him was a living hell, a place where he was constantly being humiliated and embarrassed. His one hope of friendship was Josie and she eventually spurned him because it would cost her in terms of popularity.
Everything about NINETEEN MINUTES is complex from its relationships to its circumstances. Nothing is simple; nothing is easy. One piece of the puzzle leads to another and eventually the guilt of an entire community must come into focus.
Jodi Picoult gets better and better as an author of today's world. MY SISTER'S KEEPER was one of the best books of the past decade and NINETEEN MINUTES should garner her even more acclaim. She is a writer who chooses her words carefully and makes each one count. She also is able to capture a variety of characters in her stories and make each one of them distinct. Even better she gives each one a true voice.
NINETEEN MINUTES is an important book that deals with current issues inside the walls of our schools today. It should be required reading for all teachers and school administrators who hold the fate and future of our children in their hands.
The "shooting at Sterling High" which is described in this novel is a tragedy, but thanks to the brilliance of Jodi Picoult it is an understandable one. Read it for enlightenment and read it for understanding.
NINETEEN MINUTES is published by Atria Books. It contains 455 pages and sells for $26.95.