In nineteen minutes Peter’s whole world changed and nothing he could do would ever change it back. The blood of his classmates stained the hallways. Jocks and geeks hid under tables together. Teacher’s faces were filled with terror. The sound of gunshots cut through the air, in the midst of sirens wailing and parents screaming out their children’s names. His school had become a battleground. Peter Houghton was seventeen years old and he had already become a killer.
It was March 6, 2007 when a boy who had been victimised for years decided that he had finally had enough. Armed with guns he walked into Sterling High one day and decided that it was time to take his revenge.
The incident was splashed across the front pages for weeks. Who was to be blamed? Who was the real victim? And was there just one answer to those questions?
Was Peter to blame?
The boy who was scared to go to school, who was made to feel so helpless, desperate and small, who was mocked and humiliated every minute of every day, who just wanted the endless torture to stop but knew no possible way out of it.
Was Peter’s mother to blame?
The woman who had raised a sensitive and caring son - a boy who couldn’t understand what he had done to make everyone hate him? Could such a boy turn into a monster overnight? And was it her fault?
Were the silent bystanders to blame?
The kids who didn’t bully Peter but did not stand up for him either, the ones who were scared that if they did, they would be treated like him, the kids who didn’t deserve to have bullet wounds and nightmares just because they wanted to fit in and be accepted.
Josie?
The girl who used to be Peter’s best friend, who encouraged and took up for him, who finally succumbed to peer-pressure and the need for social status? The girl who woke up every morning feeling sick and tired of pretending to be the kind of person she had always despised?
Were the teachers to blame?
The ones who wanted to toughen Peter up for the real world, who always told Peter to stop keeping quiet, to stand up for himself and to fight back, who were shocked when he finally did, in a way they had never imagined.
The nineteen minutes that Jodi Picoult describes in her shocking, thought-provoking book are not just nineteen minutes. They were set into motion by a host of complex characters and seemingly insignificant events that spiral onwards, affecting the lives of millions and wrenching countless families apart. Jodi Picoult describes a brutal world which refuses to accept anyone who is different and a boy who struggles for acceptance in a society which just doesn’t care.
This book revolves around a thrilling court case, the haunting memories of a grief-stricken killer, an incident which left an unsuspecting town in uproar and the race to uncover evidence which could change the fate of everyone involved - a judge who usually never shows her emotion, a detective who has always wanted to stop a crime before it is committed, and a defence lawyer who believes that Peter is only human and who gives his all to a case which he knows will tear him apart.
It is a story which could happen to anyone, anywhere and its origins are being acted out even in our own schools. In fact Jodi Picoult writes the following words in her acknowledgements, “To the thousands of kids out there who are a little bit different, a little bit scared, a little bit unpopular: this one’s for you.”
This book is for me and you. This book is for everyone.
It was March 6, 2007 when a boy who had been victimised for years decided that he had finally had enough. Armed with guns he walked into Sterling High one day and decided that it was time to take his revenge.
The incident was splashed across the front pages for weeks. Who was to be blamed? Who was the real victim? And was there just one answer to those questions?
Was Peter to blame?
The boy who was scared to go to school, who was made to feel so helpless, desperate and small, who was mocked and humiliated every minute of every day, who just wanted the endless torture to stop but knew no possible way out of it.
Was Peter’s mother to blame?
The woman who had raised a sensitive and caring son - a boy who couldn’t understand what he had done to make everyone hate him? Could such a boy turn into a monster overnight? And was it her fault?
Were the silent bystanders to blame?
The kids who didn’t bully Peter but did not stand up for him either, the ones who were scared that if they did, they would be treated like him, the kids who didn’t deserve to have bullet wounds and nightmares just because they wanted to fit in and be accepted.
Josie?
The girl who used to be Peter’s best friend, who encouraged and took up for him, who finally succumbed to peer-pressure and the need for social status? The girl who woke up every morning feeling sick and tired of pretending to be the kind of person she had always despised?
Were the teachers to blame?
The ones who wanted to toughen Peter up for the real world, who always told Peter to stop keeping quiet, to stand up for himself and to fight back, who were shocked when he finally did, in a way they had never imagined.
The nineteen minutes that Jodi Picoult describes in her shocking, thought-provoking book are not just nineteen minutes. They were set into motion by a host of complex characters and seemingly insignificant events that spiral onwards, affecting the lives of millions and wrenching countless families apart. Jodi Picoult describes a brutal world which refuses to accept anyone who is different and a boy who struggles for acceptance in a society which just doesn’t care.
This book revolves around a thrilling court case, the haunting memories of a grief-stricken killer, an incident which left an unsuspecting town in uproar and the race to uncover evidence which could change the fate of everyone involved - a judge who usually never shows her emotion, a detective who has always wanted to stop a crime before it is committed, and a defence lawyer who believes that Peter is only human and who gives his all to a case which he knows will tear him apart.
It is a story which could happen to anyone, anywhere and its origins are being acted out even in our own schools. In fact Jodi Picoult writes the following words in her acknowledgements, “To the thousands of kids out there who are a little bit different, a little bit scared, a little bit unpopular: this one’s for you.”
This book is for me and you. This book is for everyone.
-Sunaina