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My Rating: 5 stars

On March 6th, 2007, the lives of the students of Sterling High school in New Hampshire were changed forever. One second, it was only a school day like any other. Nothing bad ever happens in Sterling. Blink and everything has changed. It only took Peter Houghton nineteen minutes to enter his high school and open fire, killing ten and injuring nineteen. As the trial progresses, the closest of friendships and families are destroyed. In the end, is comes down to Josie Cormier, Peter’s former best friend. She could be the state’s best witness…if she could remember what actually happened right before her own eyes. Nineteen Minutes discusses what it’s like to be different in today’s society, who has the right to judge someone else and whether or not anyone is ever really who they seem to be.
I’ve heard so many good things about Jodi Picoult and I finally decided it was time to read one of her books. My friend suggested it to me around the same time I was reading Hate List by Jennifer Brown. Both of those books are very similar, yet very different at the same time. Nineteen Minutes is about a school shooting, but it focuses on how it affects everyone involved: the families, the students, the injured, the police, etc. The point of view switches around a lot to different people: Josie, Peter, both of their mothers, some of the victims and some of the injured. It offered a wide perspective on how a school shooting can affect a multitude of people. The ending was completely unexpected and a total twist in the plot. It took me extremely long to read this book, and I think that was because it was filled with so much information. It was 455 pages long, but so much happened in between the front and back covers. I loved this book so much; it’s one of those books I will never forget.