Bullied or not bullied, everyone has a story. Some may take a different path than others in life. It’s like the saying we have all heard before, “Everyone is Different”. The main character of Jodi Picoult’s book Nineteen Minutes is a 17 year old named Peter Houghton. He is the misfit of his class. Peter never has too many friends, except Josie; they are inseparable. She is always there to stick up for Peter when older boys pick on him. Once they enter middle school, Josie start to hang out with the “popular” group; she doesn’t want to ruin her new reputation, so Josie ditches Peter. He is the kid at school that always plays video games and never is very athletic; he feels like his parents are more proud of his brother, who is dead. The book begins as an average day at Sterling High, or so the residents think, but has all this bullying pushed Peter to the edge? After that day, the school is stained by a terrible tragedy. Each person has to recover from the situation. This small, neat town proves that one person can change the security of an entire community. The more you read, the more you will get hooked on this bestseller. The exhilarating twists and turns of this book will keep you hooked from start to finish. The writing style, author, and realistic characters are what make this novel so compelling.

The writing style Jodi Picoult incorporates through this book astounds me. The book is in third person, but the entire story is “flashback” as well. You may ask what flashback means. The word is defined as a book that goes back in time to tell stories that help explain situations happening in the present. This author tells pieces from the past numerous times to lead readers to the conclusion. One time this style of writing is in the cafeteria. Peter has just admitted to Josie through an email, that he is in love with her. This email is spammed out to the entire school; Peter is unaware of this. One of Josie’s closest friends tells Peter she has a crush on him too. That day at school Peter goes up to the intimidating “popular” table. To his surprise this all was just a joke to them. Peter is the misfit of the school and for him to get the guts to admit he liked Josie not acceptable. Matt, Josie’s boyfriend, pulls down Peter’s pants and underwear in front of the whole student body. This flashback in the story really gave me, a better understanding of why Peter takes the action that he does in the novel against those he despises. This style of writing really gave a better understanding on why the shooting happened. It was also very tantalizing to read the different action-filled stories from Peter and Josie’s past. In addition to the exquisite writing style Nineteen Minutes has an indubitable author, Jodi Picoult.

Jodi Picoult is an ingenious author; she really gives a great presentation of this in Nineteen Minutes. Jodi also relates many of her stories to real life situations. She has shown this through the years in all her books. Picoult is the bestseller author of seventeen novels including: My Sisters Keeper, The Pact, House Rules, etc. While reading this and other books, I have wondered where Jodi Picoult has learned their craft. She has not only worked for Wall Street but, also went to two Ivy League schools, Princeton and Harvard. Her education may have helped her get to where she stands today, but she just has great talent. In Nineteen Minutes, her expertise is demonstrated very well. I had heard of this book from a friend. She really was pushing me to read it. A couple of years ago I read My Sisters Keeper, and honestly, I loved that book as well. I decided to give this story a shot and Jodi didn’t let me down. Once again, this was a great book that shows Picoult’s skills and passion of writing. Not only does Picoult have exceptional writing style, she can relate her stories to real life situations as well.

The characters in Nineteen Minutes are like you or me, realistic. I love books that let me take the traits of a character and I can them to one of my friends. While reading the book, I was awestruck that I could match anyone of the characters with someone I know. There is always a popular group, the geeks, and an outcast in high school. There is no way of getting around it. Many may think there is a way to eliminate this or that it doesn’t exist, but the sad truth is it does. This book shows a great understanding of how school works. There are bullies that will always try to make people feel small. Whoever you are and whatever group you fit in with, just be true to yourself. When reading this book, that’s the theme I truly took from it. Every person has that one person in life who they can count on. Indeed all three of the criteria I talked about are important and should be taken into consideration while you read the book.

I can see on the other hand why people would be discouraged or wouldn’t like the book after reading it. Jodi Picoult’s style is much different then other authors books I’ve read and may be a little confusing to some. Another reason people may be turned off by this book is the plot of the story, school shootings are a very emotional and serious matter. In my opinion though Jodi Picoult takes the right direction for the plotline and shows how humorless bullying can be. I recommend this book to anyone that has liked Jodi Picoult’s other books and anyone who enjoys action-filled stories.