Nineteen Minutes

by Jodi Picoult

Book Overview

Jodi Picoult, bestselling author of My Sister's Keeper and Small Great Things pens her most riveting book yet, with a startling and poignant story about the devastating aftermath of a small-town... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743496736
• Release Date: February 2008
• Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
• Length: 455 Pages
• Weight: 0.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.0" x 1.2" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

Great read! This book still on my mind often. I think of Peter often and what he endured at school.

Often I think this book ofteh. I think of Peter often and what he endured at school. My heart breaks for him. As well as everyone else in what they went though. Teachers and students and parents should read this.

I still think about it now

I first read this book when I was 15. I didn't even read the summary, just bought it and boy! I'm glad I did. This book will haunt you and having you feeling emotional. Such a great read

A Good Book

There are so many school shootings and, of course, we always feel so sorry for the victims, their families and the survivors who will never recover from the emotional turmoil. However, this book also makes you understand what drove the shooter to do what he did and the toll it took on his family. The author told us more than we needed to know about the defense lawyer's family and it didn't need to include the romance that two of the main characters have but it was still a good book that caught my attention from beginning to end.

Nineteen Minutes

This book kept me hooked from page 1. I believe everyone should read this book, it is a fiction novel, but is based on everyday occurrences that are happening way too often in our country, school shootings.

interesting perspectives

when i ordered this book, i didn't realize it was about a school shooting, and i'm not sure i would have, if i'd known. but i'm glad i did! this book is set up a little different - no chapters, it's separated by date, and it jumps around, and has little breaks within the date, to switch to another perspective. it's written from the shooter's perspective, the lawyer, the childhood friend, her mother who was a judge, the shooter's mother, the detective ... it gives you the whole story, from childhood to the end of the trial. i never thought i could sympathize with a shooter, but i was able to, at times, in a way. great read, hard to put down the more you got into it!

Nineteen Minutes

I have to ssy this is a great audiobook.First Off the story-line takes place in New England ,where I am from.That is always great to have a story close to home. Next The audio reader is mesmerizing.If you have Insomnia ,as I do, her voice puts you to sleep in a couple hours time,not because she's uninteresting,just soothing. The story is about a high-school shooting in which the boy who shot up the school was bullied to the max. The boy only had one real friens who he grew up with who just happens to be the judges daughter. As the judges daughter becomes a sophmore in high-school ,she is not all that nice to her old` friend. I guess the 4 main characters in the book are PETER, the boy who does the shooting and his MOM ,LACI amd ALEX, who is the judge assigned to the case and her daughter , JOSIE. There are18 c.d.'s which are broken up into 3 minute tracks but still be prepared for a very interesting but long story. I don't want to spoil the audiobook so I'll stop here.All I can also tell you is that every one of the 18 c.d's it took to read this audiobook were more than woth it. I normally read non-fiction,true-crime,but this is as close as you can get to that type of story,being that its fiction.I would rather put my headphones on some nights and have someone with a soothing voice read to me rather than reading it to myself. All I can say is E-X-C-E-L-L-E-N-T!!!!!

Truly Amazing

I have to admit that I never picked up a Picoult novel because the covers reminded me too much of chick lit. But I kept hearing great things about her writing. Intrigued by the premise of 19 Minutes, I picked up the book out of pure curiosity. Now, I'm mad at myself for not having discovered this amazing writer sooner. 19 Minutes affected me greatly. Being a teacher, school violence is a problem I have to deal with every day of the year. And 19 Minutes presents teenagers and their problems and issues in a very natural, very realistic way. When Peter, a young boy who has been bullied all of his life for no reason, walks into his high school with guns and bombs, a nightmare scenario no one thought possible happens. After his 19-minute rampage, Peter has killed 9 students, one teacher and has injured a series of others. The killings themselves are never graphically presented (a wise choice by the author). Instead, they are retolled through various narratives. We have Josie, a girl who used Peter's friend when they were children but who became one of the popular kids as he grew up (but as the story unfolds, we soon realise that she's hurting as well). We also meet Jodie's mother, a judge who might very well sit on the case. We have Peter's lawyer, who is trying to defend this boy as best he can. And we have Peter's mother, who can't help but blame herself for what happened even though she's always been a loving parent to Peter. The book is a perfect example of what can happen if a child is put aside, forgotten, teased and hurt every day of his life. You can't help but sympathize with Peter. To him, what he did was an act of self-preservation and self-defense. And after you learn everything that has happened to Peter, you start seeing his point of view and undestanding why his idea of what happiness should be is all messed up. The book presents both sides of the medals, while remaining impartial. Picoult's writing is tight and precise. She knows exactly what to say to hit a nerve. And she's not afraid of keeping things secret and slowly revealing them to her readers. This book is 450 pages long but has enough surprises and twists to keep you reading well past your bedtime. 19 Minutes is the best book I've read in quite some time. I can't wait to read Picoult's other novels. After just one book, she's already made a new fan out of me!

Much better than the last book...

After a very disappointing THE TENTH CIRCLE, Jodi Picoult rebounds with the excellent NINETEEN MINUTES. This book, which centers on a school shooting, is one of her best yet. Picoult really knows how to develop her characters. Each one is well defined and real. I totally believed the way the characters were portrayed, especially Lacy and Peter. And yes, I found myself having a great deal of sympathy for Peter. Some could say that the characters were a bit clichéd (Matt, the abusive boyfriend, Josie, the wanna-be, Lacy, the mother without a clue, etc.), but I think these characters are reflective of a great many people in the real world. I also liked the way Picoult used Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a defense for Peter. Wonderfully done. I give credit to Picoult for always addressing issues in her books that are topical and thought provoking. I've read some reviews that criticize Picoult for not having the character of Alex recuse herself as judge at the trial. This is totally becomes a non-issue as you will see as your continue reading. Also, regarding the "twist" ending I've seen some complaints about, it's not such a twist if you are paying attention as you read. It's actually quite obvious from very early on in the story. I enjoy the fact that Picoult brought back characters from previous books (Patrick from PERFECT MATCH and Jordan from SALEM FALLS and THE PACT.) I understand that Ian from KEEPING FAITH makes an appearance in her next book. I definitely look forward to it.

"they started it"

These are the words that seventeen-year-old Peter Houghton says when he is found after a school shooting spree huddling with a gun in his hand by Detective Patrick Ducharme. An outcast who had been bullied since kindergarten, Peter kills ten, including a teacher, and injures many more. At first glance, it looks like a straightforward act of revenge, but things are revealed to be more complex. One of his victims is Matt Royston, the boyfriend of his former childhood friend, Josie Cormier, and others are members of the in-crowd, but others have seemingly no relation. In the days before the trial, and in the days leading up to the shooting, we are given the backstory, told mostly from Josie's, Peter's, and their mothers' viewpoint. We learn of the incessant teasing this boy received, adults' unsuccessful attempts to help him fit in, and of the stormy relationship between Josie and Matt. During the trial, we hear from the victims who survived and the devastation the crime has wrought on their lives. In the end, the reader may still be undecided whether Peter is primarily a victim, perpetrator, loyal friend, or all three, but that is the point. What this book has that others like it often don't is compassion not just for the bullying victims, but for the "in-crowd" as well. It is more complex than "We Need to Talk About Kevin" because Peter is capable of love and not just a run-of-the-mill sociopath. The end is a little odd, but not as jolting as the one in "My Sister's Keeper." Highly recommended.