19 minutes

19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult is a novel that depicts the lives of 5 people who's lives change dramatically due to an unexpected act of violence; A student shooting and killing 10 people at Sterling High School. Josie Cormier is a senior at Sterling High, whose boyfriend of 4 years was killed by the shooter. she has an especially hard time getting back on her feet after the shooting because of her previous friendship with the shooter. Alex Cormier, Josie's single mother, is the most respected judge in town. She feels that she can handle being the judge on the Sterling High shooting, but the emotional toll that it takes on her and Josie is too unexpected and heavy for her to make an accurate decision. She is a better judge than a mother, which doesn't bother her as much as Josie feels it should. To throw her life even more off balance, she finds herself falling for a cop/detective on the same case. Patrick is the cop who is investigating the shooting. He can't help but think that he's not "detecting" anything, but rather the crime has already happened and the people have already been hurt, even before he gets there. His relationship with Alex Cormier throws him through a loop as he begins to uncover the truth and history behind Josie and the shooter. Lacy Houghton is a midwife and has a student at Sterling High. She can't help but ask herself, "What did I do wrong?" as she deals with the emotional turmoil and the social rejection of having a murderer for a son. Peter Houghton has been bullied and socially rejected his entire life. He finds a way out through programming computer games, his favorite being Revenge of the Nerds, where outcasts try to kill the jocks of the school (AKA their tormenters). In the computer game, he always won; her never took into consideration what would happen after he shot and killed 10 students at Sterling High School. This book is fantastic because it leaves you thinking about it even after you're done reading.