"In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge."
In Nineteen Minutes, Jodi Picoult takes us back to high school, to a time that was for some of us was a wonderful experience and for others a nightmare. This book is set in a small town where everyone knows everyone else and secrets are far and in between. To the shock and horror of the tight knit community of Grafton County, New Hampshire a seventeen year old student at Sterling high opened fire killing 10 students and injuring 19 others.
This story delves into the world of bullying, it shines a light on the trauma that stems from repeated abuse at the hands of the "popular" crowd. You feel the shame and the ridicule, the fear and the humiliation, the anger and the desperation. This author almost forces you to side with the shooter in this book by giving you glimpses of all that he has suffered at the hands of his abusers.
There are many different facets to this book and the author tosses you a few twists along the way to keep you on edge. While reading, I tried to remember back to those days and I remember that I didn't quite fit into any crowd so I kind of just kept to myself. I do know that it isn't always so easy to do so. I'm sure we can all remember that one kid that was picked on more than any of the others, the one that always had that frightened look in his eye. The one that looked as if he always wanted to cry.This book makes you wish you would have stepped in and said, "Hey, leave him alone.".
With this book you begin questioning the relationships you have with your children. You wonder how anything like this could happen, yet we see it more and more often everyday and it frightens us to the core. This book can have that same effect, to frighten. It gives you chills at times and tears at others, and all the while you're not quite sure who you those tears are for.
