Nineteen Minutes Book Review

Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult, is hard to put and reaches out to the ever so popular, high school popularity, and bullying.
Sterling, New Hampshire, where the story takes place, is a very small town, like the kind where everyone knows your name. Nobody could ever imagine that the Midwife’s son could take out his anger on the entire high school, rippling out throughout the community. It only takes the boy 19 minutes to kill ten of his school mates.
The book goes throughout the entire history of Peter Houghton, the shooter, and opens the door for readers to understand why in the world someone would ever do something like this. She also surrounds the minds of the kids who bullied Peter.
What might seem to be the main character of the story, Josie Cormier, which was once a loser just like Peter, is now the school’s most popular girl-- the most popular girl who questions her own existence in this world. An extremely self-conscious member of the characters ads extreme diversity, since she witnessed Peter Houghton’s last murder: her boyfriend.
Since Josie witnessed this murder, and is an ex-friend of Peter’s: she is a defendant witness. Ironically, however, she seems to not remember anything about the shooting. Josie is no stranger to how the court system works, since her mother, Alex Cormier, is a judge, dealing with the case.
The book is full of surprises, and most are unexpected and extremely well placed. A shiver runs up the reader’s spine when Peter, a high school kid, has to wear a bullet proof vest for his first day of court, because everyone is bloodthirsty for revenge of the victims he killed. Peter seems unrealistically caviler, but inside, he is just another insecure kid that thought he was doing something for someone else. Picoult artistically throws in Peter’s life long struggle with cruel bullies, and that Josie Cormier was the last friend he ever really had. Some might even side with the murderer.
This is an extremely impressive book, on a very touchy subject. Picoult discussed the situation with victims of other school shootings. She decided to show both sides of the situations, and high school in today’s society. She opens the reader’s eyes to what is really happening out there, and no place is safe from it—even small towns. This book is surprisingly controversial, and shows no fear at addressing the subjects everyone is afraid to talk about.