1,140 Seconds







Author: Jodi Picoult
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Date & Place of Publication: New York, NY 2007


I’m not the type of girl to sit down and read a 455 page novel. I’d rather be wandering the halls of the mall with my two best friends in the hope that we’d find clothes that fit the description for the theme of the next basketball game, but Jodi Picoult has a way with words that you could not imagine. The way she pulls you in is incredible; you won’t want to put down the book until your eyelids start to get heavy.
Nineteen Minutes is a story about a school shooting that takes place in Sterling High, Sterling, New Hampshire. The story is told in many different views. Some include the superior judge and single mother Alex Cormier, her daughter, a junior in high school Josie Cormier, the shooter and his parents, and the detective. The students were starting their daily routine throughout what seemed like just another normal day at Sterling High. Soon they would realize that this day March 6, 2007 is not just an ordinary day, in fact those nineteen minutes will turn into a life changing event for some and others it’s the end of their extremely short road.

“When you don't fit in, you become superhuman. You can feel everyone else's eyes on you, stuck like Velcro. You can hear a whisper about you from a mile away. You can disappear, even when it looks like you're still standing right there. You can scream, and nobody hears a sound. You become the mutant who fell into the vat of acid, the Joker who can't remove his mask, the bionic man who's missing all his limbs and none of his heart. You are the thing that used to be normal, but that was so long ago, you can't even remember what it was like.” The story goes on putting you in the shoes of the victims and their family member’s lives and also the shooters. After this kind of tragedy you don’t go back to the person you used to be, you might even see a whole different view of life. Some challenges that will be faced might not be that easy to overcome. If the victim is the judge’s daughter will the judge be able to work the case? Will the mother daughter-relationship be ruined or will they become closer? Although what the shooter did is inhumane, will you start to feel sorry for him and understand why he chose this path?
"In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn; color your hair; watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five. In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world; or you can just jump off it." In nineteen minutes you can start to read this book. This book is great for people who love books in general, or even people like me who don’t read much but are interested in books that are tragic and filled with second chances. You will see how far friendship really goes.