Nineteen Minutes B1

Name: Dakota Tschinderle
Period: B1
Title: Nineteen Minutes
Author: Jodi Picoult
Pages: 451
Rating: *****

Recommendation:I would recomend. this book to those between the ages of 15 and up. This age group are usually those still in high school and facing the struggle of trying to fit in. This book shows what so much teasing and bullying can push a person to do and the heartache the others go through as a result. This is the kind of book that you just keep turning the page to find out what happens.

Summary: When Peter loses his best childhood friend to the effect of fitting in, his views on life change. Peter does not fit in with those at school and the people that do talk to him get teased for it so people just keep their distance. When Peter gets sick of the teasing and bullying he goes on a shooting spree. This turns his life around completely. As the case unfolds to the police and court system and witnesses begin to come forward with what they know, Peter begins to give up on the point of life. Josie has a hard time dealing with life after because her boyfriend was one of those shot and killed. She does not know how the person she had known as a child could now be a murderer. Josie and Peter both struggle through the trial as they give reasons for actions and also learn things not known to other people. In the end, it shows what bullying and not fitting in can push people to do and how it affects everyones life.

Explanation of Rating: I gave this book 5 stars because it shows how life truly is. I think that we all need to stop and think about how we treat other people because not being accepted by anyone can push them to do shocking things. The book keeps you very interested and you go from page to page wondering what will happen next. It is written in a way that you can picture what is happening right in front of you. You get to know the characters and their personality and what they are capable of. This book is simply an enjoyable book and a life lesson well taught.

Favorite passage: "Nobody wants to admit to this, but bad things will keep on happening. Maybe that's because it's all a chain, and a long time ago someone did the first bad thing, and that led someone else to do another bad thing, and so on. You know, like that game where you whisper a sentence into someone's ear, and that person whispers it to someone else, and it all comes out wrong in the end.
But then again, maybe bad things happen because it's the only way we can keep remembering what good is supposed to look like."

I love this passage because it shows EXACTLY how life really is, the bad things start coming about when we forget all the good that we have been blessed with in our lives. Then we get so stuck up on the bad, that we let the good pass right by.