“Nineteen Minutes,” like most Picoult novels, was a hard coutroom case. Which means that much of the novel takes place in the courthouse.

Picoult really touched base on issues that have been faced just this year, like the Newtown shootings. The way the book is written in the beginning makes you wonder. It makes you think. In order to get the whole feel of the book, you have to read it front to back.

This book is about a shooting that takes place in Sterling, New Hampshire in a small- town school.

Each character can relate to someone in a person’s life. You have the popular girl Josie Cormier who’s good at school and “loves” herself, but underneath all that who is this girl really? She’s not all that happy with her life or with her mother.

There are the adults in the story who try and know their kid’s lives but don’t; they think they know but they only know the good things.

Then there’s that lonely boy Peter who Josie used to be friends with before high school. He hates himself and therefore he hates everyone else around him for making him hate himself.

All the lying and sadness leads up to the minutes Josie witnessed firsthand. Josie is the daughter of the judge who’s presiding over the case and is the primary witness; she can’t remember it, or so she says.

This case starts to destroy family, relationships, and the town’s unity. Josies fear is stopping her from coming forward because she doesn’t want to remember what happened that day.

The case goes on and secrets are revealed.

The book is compelling, and it’s easy to get personally involved in the story.  It’s a very hard book to put down, and it’s an easy decision to keep reading more Jodi Picoult novels.

By: Elizabeth Branske