Jodi Picoult’s newest book is “19 Minutes“. Have you heard about it? Regardless, please read on…

“19 Minutes” is presently the 68th fastest selling book of the Amazon.com Bestsellers. On Jodi Picoult’s Website, www.JodiPicoult.com, there is a Podcast that “gives the story behind 19 Minutes”. Also, check out Ms. Picoult’s Profile on her AmazonConnect Blog*.

I saw an article that mentioned “19 Minutes” in “Shelf-Awareness, a daily e-mail newsletter for booksellers and librarians“. The article said,

“In an e-mail to customers, Liz Murphy of the Learned Owl Book Shop, Hudson, Ohio, wrote:
‘In light of the tragedy at Virginia Tech, I’d like to recommend that you read the book Jodi Picoult.‘I did not recommend the book when I first read it a month ago, although I thought that Picoult did an outstanding job of getting to the heart of the issue, and made you believe in the characters and–as in all her books–see all sides of the issue. The issue here is the 19 minutes during which a young man goes on a shooting rampage in his high school classroom.‘I’ve changed my mind about the recommendation because while many don’t want to read about this subject… it is perhaps time that we DO read about it, and realize that it can happen in any neighborhood, in any family, and that sometimes there ARE signs if we just know what to look for.‘This also illuminates the critical importance of seeing and stopping bullying, even in the earliest grades. In Picoult’s 19 Minutes it is a young man who has been bullied continually since his first day of kindergarten who finally decides that he cannot take one more day of harassment. His parents, his teachers and the other students were all aware of this bullying to some extent, and yet it continued.”

Three questions - Are you a regular reader of Jodi Picoult’s books? Have you or are you going to read “19 Minutes”? After the Virginia Tech, the Northern Illinois University and other campus tragedies are you more or less likely to read “19 Minutes”?

Other comments are welcome!

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