Nineteen Minutes: Amazon.ca: Jodi Picoult: Books

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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Bestseller Picoult (My Sister's Keeper) takes on another contemporary hot-button issue in her brilliantly told new thriller, about a high school shooting. Peter Houghton, an alienated teen who has been bullied for years by the popular crowd, brings weapons to his high school in Sterling, N.H., one day and opens fire, killing 10 people. Flashbacks reveal how bullying caused Peter to retreat into a world of violent computer games. Alex Cormier, the judge assigned to Peter's case, tries to maintain her objectivity as she struggles to understand her daughter, Josie, one of the surviving witnesses of the shooting. The author's insights into her characters' deep-seated emotions brings this ripped-from-the-headlines read chillingly alive. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From AudioFile

Recent events and Picoult's powerful description of the horrors of a school shooting make this a hard story to hear. Carol Monda's voice is calm as she leads listeners back and forth through time, revealing the shooter, Peter's, torment. Bullied since kindergarten, he can't put up with it a moment longer and in 19 minutes guns down 10 students and injures many more. Peeling back the layers of story until black-and-white becomes gray, Picoult reveals the stress of high school social structures, parents' pain, and characters who come to see deeper truths about themselves. Monda's gift is her ability to shift seamlessly among the many roles, imbuing each with a meaningful characterization. S.W. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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15 Reviews

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4.8 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Written with Love and Filled with Exceptional Insights, April 13 2007

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Nineteen Minutes: A novel (Hardcover)

We've read about too many school shootings. These are intensely sad events as young lives are ended and harmed while sickening fear is permanently released to further separate communities. We all blame the parents for being so clueless.

I wasn't sure I wanted to read a long novel about such an event. But I'm glad I did. Nineteen Minutes takes the bare facts of such an awful day and helps us see the whole experience from every perspective. And the book does so with a kind and gentle heart.

This shifting of the balance of our perceptions is accomplished by several well-performed techniques including many narrators (different students, three parents, the police, the defense attorney, and his wife), connections among the characters, and multiple back stories that reach literally into the womb. The book's theme is far more universal than school shootings: How we grow away from our real selves and the damage that does to us and others.

I was very impressed by the way that Ms. Picoult viewed every character with mostly sympathy, even when you might think of them as being unsympathetic from the facts. Each character is also mildly funny. She doesn't let the tragedy pull us too far away from the realities of everyday life. It's an extraordinary storytelling gift.

If you are like me, you'll probably feel that your faith in people is increased by reading this story rather than the reverse. That reaction also surprised me.

No matter what your age is I think you'll find this book will draw you back into those turbulent teen years when being popular meant way too much. It'll be an intense and self-revealing visit.

Bravo, Ms. Picoult! This is a remarkable book.

Highly recommended.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Picoult's Best!, Jun 9 2007

By	Shepherdess Extraordinaire (Stettler, Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Nineteen Minutes: A novel (Hardcover)

As one of the previous reviewers stated, I too was leary about reading about another school shooting, but decided to start the book and then decide whether or not to finish it. I couldn't put it down! Instead of a sappy book that tries to psychoanalyze the shooter and play on the reader's emotions, I was immersed in the story. Picoult does an amazing job of taking on an issue that is unfortunatley becoming too commonplace to the point that we are now desensitized to it and there is now only media coverage in the event of MASS casualty. She so gently shows that we are all to blame for these events. What particularly stood out for me was how many of the characters other than the shooter commit acts of violence on a daily basis whether in supposedly harmless teasing and playing pranks on "geeks", relationship violence, "mean girls", etc. that are socially acceptable. Yet it is the shooter that is singled out as being the villian. The real tradegy is that, without excusing his final act of retaliation, it is HE that really is the victim of society's norms of "being successful and making it in the world" (whether it be academic success, popularlity, fashion & beauty, etc.). Picoult exposes how we compromise our values and integrity to "fit in" and in so doing, deeply hurt others - not just ourselves. This book evoked alot of emotion and stayed with me for days after finishing it. You can't read this book without self-examination - how I relate to other people on a daily basis and my motives. Nineteen Minutes should be on the reading list of every high school Literature class.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Emotionally Charged, April 14 2008

By	Toni Osborne "The Way I See It" (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Nineteen Minutes (Paperback)

Peter Houghton a seventeen year old high school student has been enduring years of verbal and physical abuse when he is driven ever the edge. One more incident of bullying is the final straw leading Peter to commit an incomprehensible act of violence, a shooting rampage through the corridors of his high school. What could make a student turn against his fellow classmates?.......

This emotionally charged novel explores the consequences of bullying through the eyes: of the perpetrator, the judge assigned to the case and key witness. Jodi Picoult is especially gifted in making her characters seem believable and real, even in situations and circumstances that are uncommon and tragic. They are well defined and portrayed; you feel sympathy for someone pushed over the edge and pity for the clueless adults. The plot is riveting, poignant and provoking, it is presented with different points of view alternating back and forth between the past and the present. This novel's one flaw is the quick ending, which, as other reviewers have stated, does not seem realistic. Overall, an eye opener making you reflect and think, "How well do we know the people around us."I highly recommend this book.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars YES!
As in all Jodi Picoult books, this is a great story that keeps you wondering till the end. She tells each side of the story so well. Loved it.

Published 1 month ago by J. Olsen

5.0 out of 5 stars Saving it for a long trip! :D
I have heard so many great things from friends about this book & i cannot wait to read it once I'm through my other one! :D

Published 4 months ago by Charlotte Gushue

5.0 out of 5 stars A Stunning and Moving Literary Piece
As Jodi Picoult is one of my absolute favorite authors, my expectations are quite high. This book did absolutely not disappoint. Read more

Published 12 months ago by L. Campbell

5.0 out of 5 stars Jodi Picoult does it again
Another goody from Jodi Picoult. I love how she brought back past characters from her other novels. Read more

Published 14 months ago by jazzi's mom

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
Nineteen minutes is an amazing book. its about this boy named Peter who is bullied his whole life, and one day he decides to go and blow up his high school, killing people in the... Read more

Published 17 months ago by Reesa Kandelshein

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too
Peter Houghton had an extremely normal life. Raised in a normal town. Went to a normal high school. But he was always different. Read more

Published 18 months ago by TeensReadToo.com

4.0 out of 5 stars Good read
This book was highly engaging and definitely character driven. My only complaint is that some of the scenes felt unrealistic and contrived. Read more

Published 18 months ago by Sherry Simons

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book
I found that the beginning of the book dragged a bit because there were so many changes in point of view. But it definitely got better as the book went on. Read more

Published 19 months ago by Sherry Simons

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't quite know what to say
Usually I can come up with a lot of verbiage to say about a book I like, but Picoult's "Nineteen Minutes" has left me speechless. Read more

Published on Oct 9 2007 by John Vanderhoos

5.0 out of 5 stars Nineteen Minutes
Jodi Picoult leaves readers with ambiguous questions by painting a portrait of social ostracism and climbing in schools as character personas are broken down. Read more

Published on Jun 4 2007 by _camiLa12

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	51% buy the item featured on this page: Nineteen Minutes 4.8 out of 5 stars (15) CDN$ 14.59
	17% buy My Sister's Keeper: A Novel 4.4 out of 5 stars (147) CDN$ 10.79
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