Stirling, Jessica:The Wise Child
- Taschenbuch 2007, ISBN: 9780330318235
Gebundene Ausgabe
Atria Books. Very Good. 24 x 16cm. Hardcover. 2007. 464 pages. <br>In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, c olor your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen min… Mehr…
Atria Books. Very Good. 24 x 16cm. Hardcover. 2007. 464 pages. <br>In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, c olor your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minut es, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you c an fold laundry for a family of five....In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world, or you can just jump off it. In nineteen minu tes, you can get revenge. Sterling is a small, ordinary New Hamp shire town where nothing ever happens -- until the day its compla cency is shattered by a shocking act of violence. In the aftermat h, the town's residents must not only seek justice in order to be gin healing but also come to terms with the role they played in t he tragedy. For them, the lines between truth and fiction, right and wrong, insider and outsider have been obscured forever. Josie Cormier, the teenage daughter of the judge sitting on the case, could be the state's best witness, but she can't remember what ha ppened in front of her own eyes. And as the trial progresses, fau lt lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show, destroying the closest of friendships and families. Ninet een Minutes is New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult's m ost raw, honest, and important novel yet. Told with the straightf orward style for which she has become known, it asks simple quest ions that have no easy answers: Can your own child become a myste ry to you? What does it mean to be different in our society? Is i t ever okay for a victim to strike back? And who -- if anyone -- has the right to judge someone else? Editorial Reviews Amazon.c om Review Best known for tackling controversial issues through ri chly told fictional accounts, Jodi Picoult's 14th novel, Nineteen Minutes, deals with the truth and consequences of a smalltown hi gh-school shooting. Set in Sterling, New Hampshire, Picoult offer s reads a glimpse of what would cause a 17-year-old to wake up on e day, load his backpack with four guns, and kill nine students a nd one teacher in the span of nineteen minutes. As with any Picou lt novel, the answers are never black and white, and it is her ex ceptional ability to blur the lines between right and wrong that make this author such a captivating storyteller. On Peter Hough ton's first day of kindergarten, he watched helplessly as an olde r boy ripped his lunch box out of his hands and threw it out the window. From that day on, his life was a series of humiliations, from having his pants pulled down in the cafeteria, to being call ed a freak at every turn. But can endless bullying justify murder ? As Picoult attempts to answer this question, she shows us all s ides of the equation, from the ruthless jock who loses his abilit y to speak after being shot in the head, to the mother who both b lames and pities herself for producing what most would call a mon ster. Surrounding Peter's story is that of Josie Cormier, a forme r friend whose acceptance into the popular crowd hangs on a strin g that makes it impossible for her to reconcile her beliefs with her actions. At times, Nineteen Minutes can seem tediously ster eotypical-- jocks versus nerds, parent versus child, teacher vers us student. Part of Picoult's gift is showing us the subtleties o f these common dynamics, and the startling effects they often hav e on the moral landscape. As Peter's mother says at the end of th is spellbinding novel, Everyone would remember Peter for nineteen minutes of his life, but what about the other nine million? --Gi sele Toueg From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Bestseller Pi coult (My Sister's Keeper) takes on another contemporary hot-butt on issue in her brilliantly told new thriller, about a high schoo l shooting. Peter Houghton, an alienated teen who has been bullie d for years by the popular crowd, brings weapons to his high scho ol in Sterling, N.H., one day and opens fire, killing 10 people. Flashbacks reveal how bullying caused Peter to retreat into a wor ld of violent computer games. Alex Cormier, the judge assigned to Peter's case, tries to maintain her objectivity as she struggles to understand her daughter, Josie, one of the surviving witnesse s of the shooting. The author's insights into her characters' dee p-seated emotions brings this ripped-from-the-headlines read chil lingly alive. (Mar.) Copyright ® Reed Business Information, a di vision of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Publisher s Weekly Starred Review. Bestseller Picoult (My Sister's Keeper) takes on another contemporary hot-button issue in her brilliantly told new thriller, about a high school shooting. Peter Houghton, an alienated teen who has been bullied for years by the popular crowd, brings weapons to his high school in Sterling, N.H., one d ay and opens fire, killing 10 people. Flashbacks reveal how bully ing caused Peter to retreat into a world of violent computer game s. Alex Cormier, the judge assigned to Peter's case, tries to mai ntain her objectivity as she struggles to understand her daughter , Josie, one of the surviving witnesses of the shooting. The auth or's insights into her characters' deep-seated emotions brings th is ripped-from-the-headlines read chillingly alive. (Mar.) Copyr ight ® Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc . All rights reserved. From Bookmarks Magazine Nobody does 'ripp ed from the headlines' better than Picoult, claims the Christian Science Monitor, and in her 14th book she takes on the sensitive, disturbing topic of school shootings. This is a raw subject for many, and reviewers were quick to note that this intense novel is not for the squeamish. Fans of Picoult (My Sister's Keeper,***1/ 2 July/Aug 2004) will recognize the setting, some of the characte rs, and her trademark, jaw-dropping plot twists as she explores t he events leading up to and following the tragedy. Reviewers appl auded her ability to make readers sympathize as much with the sho oter as with his targets, blending the lines of aggressor and vic tim with ease. Those who dare to venture into such dark territory will be richly rewarded. Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Med ia, Inc. From Booklist Popular and prolific Picoult (My Sister's Keeper, and The Tenth Circle , 2006) now tackles the troubling t opic of a school shooting. Picoult considers the tragedy--in 19 q uick minutes, 10 are dead and 19 are wounded--from several differ ent perspectives, including that of the shooter, a troubled boy n amed Peter, who was mercilessly picked on at school. The small to wn of Sterling is rocked by the carnage. Alex Cormier is the supe rior court judge planning to hear the case, but her daughter, Jos ie, Peter's only friend during childhood but now a member of the in crowd, was in the midst of the melee. Peter spared Josie, but killed her boyfriend. Two characters from previous Picoult novels are also involved. Charismatic detective Patrick DuCharme rushes into the school and apprehends Peter, and Jordan McAfee agrees t o defend the young killer. Every bit as gripping and moving as Pi coult's previous novels, Nineteen Minutes will no doubt garner co nsiderable attention for its controversial subject and twist endi ng. Kristine Huntley Copyright © American Library Association. Al l rights reserved Review A master of the craft of storytelling. -- AP Newswire Picoult spins fast-paced tales of family dysfunct ion, betrayal, and redemption.... [Her] depiction of these rites of contemporary adolescence is exceptional: unflinching, unjudgme ntal, utterly chilling. -- The Washington Post Jodi Picoult's bo oks explore all the shades of gray in a world too often judged in black and white. -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch About the Author Jo di Picoult received an AB in creative writing from Princeton and a master's degree in education from Harvard. The recipient of the 2003 New England Book Award for her entire body of work, she is the author of twenty-six novels, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers House Rules, Handle With Care, Change of Heart, and M y Sister's Keeper, for which she received the American Library As sociation's Margaret Alexander Edwards Award. She lives in New Ha mpshire with her husband and three children. Visit her website at JodiPicoult.com. From The Washington Post Reviewed by Frances T aliaferro Early in Nineteen Minutes, Detective Patrick Ducharme walks through a deserted crime scene. Artifacts have been left be hind: the Wonder-bread sandwiches scarred by only one bite; the t ub of Cherry Bomb lip gloss . . . the salt-and-pepper composition notebooks filled with study sheets on Aztec civilization and mar gin notes about the current one: I luv Zach S!!! It's eerily ordi nary -- until you notice the dead bodies. This is the cafeteria of Sterling (N.H.) High School, shortly after a gunman has killed 10 people and wounded many others. His rampage lasted 19 minutes . As the prosecutor will later point out, In nineteen minutes, yo u can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hoc key game. You can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist. You can fold laundry for a family of five. Or . . . you can brin g the world to a screeching halt. There's never any doubt that t he gunman was Peter Houghton, a 17-year-old student. Hundreds of witnesses confirm it. Now, justice must be accomplished -- proper ly, and not by an angry mob. It won't be easy in this small town where everybody is connected. Peter's mother, for instance, is th e midwife who delivered Josie Cormier. Peter and Josie were best friends until puberty hit and Josie became a cool girl while Pete r remained a nerd. Matt Royston, Josie's dazzling boyfriend, was Peter's last victim. Josie's mother, Alex Cormier, is the judge w ho will try Peter's case -- unless she can be brought to recuse h erself. And these are only the most salient connections. Dozens o f others must be traced as the authorities piece together why the shooting happened. Parent-child relationships are central to Ni neteen Minutes. When you're a teenager, the fact of parents is un avoidable, even when they're not very good at being parents. For Josie's single mother, it's easy to be a judge and hard to be a m other; everything she says comes out wrong. To Peter, his parents seem equally inept and obtuse. But then, most adolescents find t heir parents wanting; so how does a normal teenage worldview turn into a homicidal one? As Picoult answers this question, the soc iology of Sterling High School comes to life: nerds and jocks and brains, adults from another planet, school as heaven or hell. Fo r many of us, high school meant self-discovery complicated by acn e, prom anxiety and the perfidy of other teenagers. Though we've never been homecoming queen or most valuable player, we've made o ur peace with our own uncoolness. But at Sterling, a nerd doesn't have that relief. Bullying doesn't officially exist -- ask any g rown-up -- but if you're a nerd, you know what to expect. At the very least, cool girls will look at you as if you were a bug on t he windshield. If you're lucky, the abuse will be verbal: The guy s will call you freak or homo or retard. On a bad day, they'll cr ush your glasses or stuff you into a locker. Torment could come f rom any direction at any time, and you live in the adolescent ver sion of post-traumatic stress disorder. For some adult characters in the novel, this diagnosis is news, but no teenager would be s urprised to hear it. Certainly the reader is not surprised to he ar about HIDE-N-SHRIEK, the video game Peter created, in which th e underdog gets a chance to annihilate the bullies with weapons f ound in any school building. Peter's ingenuity is appalling and p athetic and almost valiant; like Josie, he's a person of moral co mplexity. The adult characters, however, tend to be one-sided a nd given to making snappy comebacks with a frequency that's enter taining but not plausible. The judge has such gumption and good s ense that her refrain of maternal inadequacy just doesn't ring tr ue. Picoult is the author of 13 other novels, most of them widel y popular, but I came to Nineteen Minutes with no previous Picoul t experience. It's absorbing and expertly made. On one level, it' s a thriller, complete with dismaying carnage, urgent discoveries and 11th-hour revelations, but it also asks serious moral questi ons about the relationship between the weak and the strong, quest ions that provide what school people call teachable moments. If c ompassion can be taught, Picoult may be just the one to teach it. Copyright 2007, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved. Ex cerpt. ® Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Nineteen Minutes A novelBy Jodi Picoult Atria Copyright © 2007Jodi Picou lt All right reserved. ISBN: 9780743496728 March 6, 2007 In nine teen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scone s or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five. Nineteen minutes is how long it took the Tenness ee Titans to sell out of tickets to the play-offs. It's the lengt h of a sitcom, minus the commercials. It's the driving distance f rom the Vermont border to the town of Sterling, New Hampshire. I n nineteen minutes, you can order a pizza and get it delivered. Y ou can read a story to a child or have your oil changed. You can walk a mile. You can sew a hem. In nineteen minutes, you can sto p the world, or you can just jump off it. In nineteen minutes, y ou can get revenge. As usual, Alex Cormier was running late. It took thirty-two minutes to drive from her house in Sterling to th e superior court in Grafton County, New Hampshire, and that was o nly if she speeded through Orford. She hurried downstairs in her stockings, carrying her heels and the files she'd brought home wi th her over the weekend. She twisted her thick copper hair into a knot and anchored it at the base of her neck with bobby pins, tr ansforming herself into the person she needed to be before she le ft her house. Alex had been a superior court judge now for thirt y-four days. She'd believed that, having proved her mettle as a d istrict court judge for the past five years, this time around the appointment might be easier. But at forty, she was still the you ngest judge in the state. She still had to fight to establish her self as a fair justice -- her history as a public defender preced ed her into her courtroom, and prosecutors assumed she'd side wit h the defense. When Alex had sub, Atria Books, 2007, 3, London: Pan Books. Good+. 1991. Reprint; First Printing. Paperback. Mass Market PB . Some reading and cover corner creases, some shelf and edge wear with tiny split to base of spine, paper age toned at edges. ; First printing of Pan mass market edition with full number line, 1991. Nice tight copy, no names inside. Cover artwork by Tony Smith. ; The Nicholson Quartet; Vol. 3; 336 pages; The third novel in the Nicholson Quartet. For the Nicholsons marriage has become a hollow shell, an empty promise. Together yet divided they live under the same roof imprisoned by brittle bonds and the love they share for their young son, Bobby. When Kirsty unexpectedly gets a small inheritance she keeps it secret, until gossip reveals the true reasons for Craig's neglect and night long absences. Seeking independence she becomes owner-manager of a corner shop and engages a most unlikely assistant... ., Pan Books, 1991, 2.5<
