By the Chapter, Day 1 | Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
Welcome to By the Chapter. This week’s featured book is Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. Sharing hosting duties with me this week is Elizabeth from As usual, I need more bookshelves.
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If you’re not familiar with Nineteen Minutes here’s a little background on the book:
Sterling, New Hampshire, 17-year-old high school student Peter Houghton has endure years of verbal and physical abuse at the hands of classmates. His best friend, Josie Cormier, succumbed to peer pressure and now hangs out with the popular crowd that often instigates the harassment. One final incident of bullying sends Peter over the edge and leads him to commit an act of violence that forever changes the lives of Sterling’s residents.
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While this is fictionalized version of a school shooting that event isn’t the main focus of this story. This story focuses on the thoughts and feelings of the kids. The dynamics of group interaction they face once they start attending school from kindergarten on. Two of these kids are Peter and Josie. Each faces insecurities and handle social acceptance, or lack thereof, in very different ways. Peter is viewed as an easy target and he’s repeatedly picked on and bullied, throughout his school years, by other kids including his own big brother. Josie is Peter’s friend and his protector up to a point – the end of sixth grade. Josie pulls away from Peter gravitating toward the ‘cool’ crowd. Peter struggles with Josie’s defection, along with other acceptance issues, and starts down a path of finding darker outlets for his growing hatred. Meanwhile Josie struggles with her own issues of acceptance. She questions her image, her status, her sense of ‘belonging’. She’s starting to question her possible roll in this tragic sequence of events.
In this story my heart breaks for all the characters but Peter sticks in my mind. His feelings, his words, his actions pierce my soul. I don’t see Peter as the personification of pure evil. His statement to his attorney is very, very scary, chilling in fact. And given what is happening in our schools and universities and to our youth today we must look at the truth that lies behind these words ~ I mean, people were crying over them … and they were assholes. Everyone’s saying I ruined their lives, but no one seemed to care when my life was the one being ruined. [Nineteen Minutes, Kindle section 2769-75]. How much pain is this young man harboring within himself?
As difficult a topic as this is to read about I’m thoroughly enjoying this story. Ms. Picoult always manages to dig beneath the surface and bring to light the gray areas. These are moral questions and dilemmas that plague us or they should. Do we presume to know the answers or do we examine motives and underlying issues? She gets me thinking and interacting mentally with the story.
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If you’ve read, or are currently reading, Nineteen Minutes please share your thoughts with us.
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This week’s reading scheduling:
Monday: The Printed Page
Wednesday: Elizabeth from As usual, I need more bookshelves
Friday: The Printed Page/Elizabeth from As usual, I need more bookshelves
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Posted in Miscellaneous
10 Responses to “By the Chapter, Day 1 | Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult”
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I’m just over 1/4 of the way in, and so far it’s very good. Right now, I am really sympathizing with Lacy – how does a mom wake up one day, go about her normal routine, and then find out her son has killed 10 people? It’s certainly a page turner so far!
While I can sympathize with Lacy and her nightmare world I’m really attracted to the kids in this story because I can empathize them. While I was never a Josie and not as far down the social ladder as Peter I was still on the fringe and never really found my place in those 4 years. I feel like I’m reliving my high school years.
This was a tough, but good read. I didn’t like Josie’s mother, yet I’ve known mothers just like her.
Alex is not a character I’m attracted to at all. I don’t think I’ll be warming up to her any time soon. Of course her behavior is a reflection of her upbringing which the author touches on in the story.
I read and reviewed this book, incidentally, just before the Virginia Tech masacre that happened a scant 50 minutes from my home. It was the last Picoult novel that I read and enjoyed. When something like that happens, all of the focus is on that moment in time and the aftermath. I liked how she showed how it built up to become what it was. Have you read The Pact? I would readily compare the two novels. It’s interesting when you look at the differences between how teenage girls self destruct versus teenage boys. It might make a good book club discussion to read both and talk about them.
The background story is what makes this book. She does such a great job is protraying the issues and emotions surrounding bullying. I remember being subjected to teasing as a child by my peers and there comes a point where you really do want it to just stop. Luckily, in most cases, the consequences aren’t as serious as Peter’s case.
I haven’t read The Pact though I’m sure it’s in the TBR pile somewhere. Sounds like I need to go dig it out.
I read this a few years back and it’s one of my favorites from Picoult. It’s a heartbreaking story of what happens when kids are pushed too far. I don’t understand resorting to violence of any kind but my heart broke for Peter and all the kids. I look forward to more of your thoughts on this novel throughout the week.
I think this the 3rd or 4th JP book I’ve read. I still think My Sister’s Keeper is my favorite but this one is a very, very close second.
While I wish Peter hadn’t resorted to violence I most certainly understand his reasoning.
It is a very heartbreaking story from many standpoints.
Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors. I haven’t read a book of hers yet that I haven’t liked. Nineteen Minutes is probably my favorite. As a former high school teacher, I could really relate to the characters in the book. I hated what happened, but could really empathize with Peter. I like the book club discussion idea about reading both Nineteen Minutes and The Pact. The Pact was another one of my favorites.
This book is definitely one of my favorites from her. Gosh Peter and Josie just tug at my heart. I want to reach out and help both of them.
I guess I’m going to have make room on my summer reading list for The Pact. Though it won’t be an official By The Chapter book I will let you all know when I’ve started it so that you can drop by and see what I think of it as I’m reading it.