Nineteen Minutes

I have had this book on my shelves for at least 12 years. It was given to me by my friend (who has since passed away), Jen Q a long with 8 other Picoult books. Knowing Picoult's penchant for poignant and provocative reads I needed to be in the right headspace to start this book which is centred around a school shooting.

When I went to Florida a couple of weeks ago (the belly of the book banning beast) I took this book with me to read poolside because it is one of the most banned books in the US. 

This book lives up to its hype and is a no-holds barred look at the school shooting epidemic that continues to haunt the US. Through a variety of characters, Picoult shows how different people are impacted by the school shooting that left many students and a teacher dead. Perspectives include students, teachers, family members and the police, but it was her exploration of high school student Peter Houghton, the shooter, that will give readers much food for thought on the issue of bullying, PTSD and gun control. 

The story felt a bit long-winded in the middle and the ending not quite explained satisfactorily (particularly around Josie), but I applaud Picoult for exploring the impacts of bullying, and the devastating and on-going tragedy of school shootings that continue to plague American schools. 

This book would give book clubs excellent fodder for discussion.

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Author: Jodi Picoult

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Type and Source: Trade paperback, personal copy

Publisher: Washington Square Press

First Published: March 5, 2007

Read: March 2 - 8, 2025

Book Description from GoodReads: In Sterling, New Hampshire, 17-year-old high school student Peter Houghton has endured 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. Even those who were not inside the school that morning find their lives in an upheaval, including Alex Cormier. The superior court judge assigned to the Houghton case, Alex—whose daughter, Josie, witnessed the events that unfolded—must decide whether or not to step down. She’s torn between presiding over the biggest case of her career and knowing that doing so will cause an even wider chasm in her relationship with her emotionally fragile daughter. Josie, meanwhile, claims she can’t remember what happened in the last fatal minutes of Peter’s rampage. Or can she? And Peter’s parents, Lacy and Lewis Houghton, ceaselessly examine the past to see what they might have said or done to compel their son to such extremes. Nineteen Minutes also features the return of two of Jodi Picoult’s characters—defense attorney Jordan McAfee from The Pact and Salem Falls, and Patrick DuCharme, the intrepid detective introduced in Perfect Match. Rich with psychological and social insight, Nineteen Minutes is a riveting, poignant, and thought-provoking novel that has at its center a haunting question. Do we ever really know someone?