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| Click here to read an excerpt of Nineteen Minutes |
“Ew. Why would I like her? She has the ugliest thumbs!”
“You wait here. We’ll be right back.”
These are just a few of the statements said to me while growing up. In elementary school, I was ditched at recess and told that I would never date or go to prom. In middle school, some boys targeted me for sexual jokes. Bullying comes in many forms, but the most profound for me has been the use of hurtful words. This is why when I read Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes I felt such a unique pull to the main character, Peter Houghton.
Peter Houghton is a boy that was bullied so much in his life that one day he cracks and in just nineteen minutes, he walks into his high school and kills ten people. I am not saying that I ever had the desire to shoot any of the people that bullied me, but while I read the stories of Peter’s abuse, I couldn’t help but feel a small part of what he felt. The author, Jodi Picoult, writes this story in such a way that makes the reader question justice and the fairness of life. She takes the tough, real issues of school shootings, bullying, and abuse and unfolds a fictional story that leaves the reader feeling a sense of moral debate. One particular thought provoking quote from the book says –
“In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn; color your hair; watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five.
In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world; or you can just jump off it. In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge.”
Nineteen Minutes is one of my favorite books because it made me think and, from that thinking, act. It would take a heartless person to read this book and still bully those that they feel are below them. One important lesson I learned from this book is that I can let what happens to me dictate my life or I can overcome those hurts and be better because of them.
