Jodi Picoult has tackled in the novel Nineteen Minutes a highly controversial and difficult topic. Many authors would have shied away from such subject matter and the type of research it required. That said, what Picoult has produced is a heart-wrenching and highly realistic novel that captures the everyday trials of young people and shows how a person can finally be pushed over the edge. She does a superb job of creating in Peter a character who is sympathetic without ever for a minute diminishing the horror of the crimes he has committed. You can empathize with how Peter has been pushed to the edge through years of abuse but never are his crimes in any way condoned. I found all of the characters well-developed and believable, particularly the Lacy, Alex and Josie. Alex and Josie's attempts to connect with each other throughout the novel expertly illustrate the frustration and communication breakdowns between a single mother obsessed with her career and her only daughter. In Josie's character, Picoult also delves into the stress and fear experienced by popular students who seem to have the world at their feet. While Peter's angst is expected, Josie's is more subtle and to the outsider, more difficult to understand. She dates the "it boy", has "A-list" friends and is successful in school. Yet an early scene in the novel shows Josie hoarding pills as a "back up plan", alluding to occasional suicidal feelings. Despite her seemingly perfect life, she suffers from her own inner demons, a mirror reflecting her mother's own concerns with image and the veneer of a perfect life. Lacy, Peter's mother, is perhaps the most sympathetic of all the characters in the novel. A woman who has put her all into being a good mother, she is now faced with the unimaginable: her son has become a murderer. Subjected to the scrutiny of a community that assumes the parents must somehow be at fault, Picoult paints the picture of a courageous woman who someone manages to stay on her feet as the world caves in around her. This novel is a fast read, and keeps the reader engaged throughout, culminating in a shocking ending that will leave you thinking for days. I highly recommend this novel for young people, parents and anyone who's ever experienced the excitement and torture of the high school.