Nineteen Minutes

Nineteen Minutes

First edition
Author	Jodi Picoult
Country	USA
Language	English
Genre	Thriller
Publisher	Atria
Publication date	March 6, 2007
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	455 pp
ISBN	978-1-74175-072-0

Nineteen Minutes, published on March 9, 2007, is a novel by Jodi Picoult. It was her first book to debut at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list.^[1] This book is about a school shooting, and focuses on the events leading up to and following the incident.

Plot

The story begins on March 6, 2007 in the small town of Sterling, New Hampshire, tracking the lives of a number of characters on an "ordinary day." The characters include Alex Cormier, a superior court judge; her daughter Josie, a junior in high school; Lacy, Lewis, and Peter Houghton; Detective Patrick Ducharme; and several victims-to-be.

At the local high school, Sterling High, the story follows a routine day of students in classes, at the gym, and in the cafeteria. Suddenly, a loud bang is heard from the parking lot, which turns out to be a bomb set off in Matt Royston's car. As the students are distracted by the noise, gunshots are fired. When Patrick, the only detective on the Sterling police force, arrives at Sterling High, he searches the school to seek out the gunman, who is alleged to be a student. After passing several dead and wounded victims, Patrick traps and arrests the shooter, Peter Houghton, in the locker room, where he finds two students, Josie Cormier and Matt Royston, lying on the floor surrounded in blood. While Matt is dead, having been the only victim shot twice, Josie is not seriously injured, but only shocked: she cannot remember what happened.

The shooting kills ten people (nine students and one teacher) and wounds many other people.

Throughout the book, time flashes back and forth between events before and after the shooting. In the past, the reader learns that Peter and Josie were once close friends. Peter was frequently the target of severe bullying at school, and Josie often stuck up for him. The friends slowly drifted apart as they got older: Josie joined the popular crowd in order to protect her own interests, seeing her relationship to Peter as embarrassing. The story pictures Peter as an outcast at home as well; Peter believes his older brother Joey is favored by their parents. Joey is a popular straight-A student and athlete, but feels it necessary to ridicule Peter to protect his reputation, even fabricating a story that Peter was adopted. When Joey is killed in a car accident in 2006, Lacy and Lewis Houghton are too upset to pay attention to their remaining son, causing a bigger rift between Peter and his parents.

In their sophomore year, Josie begins dating Matt, a popular jock who leads his friends Drew Girard and John Eberhard in bullying Peter. Matt often calls Peter "homo" and "fag," leading Peter to question his sexual orientation. The bullying intensifies once Matt begins dating Josie, in his possessive efforts to keep her away from other boys. On one occasion, Peter approaches Josie after school to try talking to her. Matt beats him up, leaving Peter humiliated in front of the school.

The flashbacks also reveal several subplots: the difficult relationship between Josie and her single mother Alex, Alex's dilemma of being a judge and a mother, Peter's escape from bullying into to the world of video games, Josie's fear of falling out of the popular crowd and her suicide back-up plan when she does, Matt's abusive behavior toward Josie, Josie's pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage, as well as Lewis Houghton's hunting lessons with his son Peter.

One month before the shooting, Peter realizes that he has feelings for Josie, and sends her an email expressing his love. Courtney Ignatio reads this email before Josie and has Drew forward it to the entire school. Courtney then convinces Peter that Josie likes him. Peter asks Josie to join him later during lunch, only to suffer public humiliation as Matt pulls down Peter's pants and exposes his genitals to a cafeteria full of students. Peter's psychotic break is triggered on the morning of the shooting when he turns on his computer and accidentally opens the email he wrote to Josie.

After the shooting, Peter is sent to jail while the trial proceeds. The probable cause hearing is waived as Peter admits to killing ten people and wounding nineteen others. Jordan, Peter's defense attorney, uses battered person syndrome caused by severe bullying and abuse as a basis to convince the jury that Peter’s actions were justified as a result of his suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Jordan argues that he was in a dissociative state at the time of the shooting. In the final stage of the trial, Josie reveals that she was the one who shot Matt the first time after grabbing a gun that fell out of Peter's bag. He was abusive. Peter later fired the fatal second shot. Peter promised her he wouldn't tell anyone what she had done, and he kept this promise, happy to have Josie as his friend again.

Peter is convicted of eight counts of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder and is sentenced to life in prison. A month afterward, Peter commits suicide by stuffing a sock into his throat.

At the end of the book, one year from the date of the massacre, Josie has received a five-year sentence for accessory of manslaughter and is regularly visited in jail by her mother. Throughout the book, Josie never told the whole story, instead repeating, "I can't remember." When Josie admits to shooting Matt, Peter's sentence is reduced. Alex and Patrick, who are expecting their first child, walk the halls of the high school. Sterling High has been extensively remodeled after the shooting. The cafeteria, the gym and locker room where the massacre took place have been replaced by a large glass atrium with a memorial to the dead in the center, a row of ten white chairs bolted to the floor. A plaque declares the building "A Safe Harbor."

Characters

• Peter Houghton: The male protagonist and antagonist. A unique kid, he has been bullied for a majority of his life. He has an avid interest in computers and video games and wears glasses, making him a frequent target of teasing. He maintained a friendship with Josie Cormier until middle school, with her ultimately choosing popularity over her one true friend. After Josie's departure, he befriends Derek, often creating video games with him. His home life was equally upsetting; he never seemed to relate to his parents, despite his mother's best efforts. His older brother Joey teased Peter himself and even egged on the bullying, making up lies about him. During his high school years, he realizes he is in love with Josie, sparking a drastic chain of events. A love email he sends to her and the popular students interception of it is the catalyst in Peter's actions. After a lengthy trial and a conviction, Peter commits suicide by stuffing a sock down his throat.
• Josie Cormier: The female protagonist. Once Peter's loyal, sweet best friend, she stops hanging out with him in middle school for the popular crowd. Josie has great difficulty maintaining her image over the years, torn between what she is expected to be and how she wants to be. She realizes the shallowness of her clique and even acknowledges it on occasion, but she is too afraid to leave, fearing social obscurity at best. She hates her friends and boyfriend Matt's nasty behavior toward the less popular students, but never stands up for them. Josie's home life isn't too good either; she has a very weak connection with her mother and never knew her father. She clings to Matt for emotional support and comfort. He becomes physically abusive towards her and she never leaves him, possibly leading her to shoot him in the stomach the day of Peter's rampage. By the end, she is sentenced to five years in prison.
• Alex Cormier: Josie's mother. Throughout the novel, it is shown before and after the shooting that she has a great deal of trouble connecting to Josie. The judge assigned to Peter's case, until Josie is called in as a witness.
• Patrick Ducharme: Detective on the Sterling Police Force and Alex's love interest. He is a recurring character, appeared before in Perfect Match. Is the head detective on the Sterling High case. At the end of the book, he and Alex are romantically involved and expecting their first child

• Lacy Houghton: Peter's mother. She is a midwife, and struggles to understand her son's actions. Also, when she discovers Joey was a heroin addict, she disposes of the evidence, as she cannot bring herself to accept her deceased son was anything other than perfect.

• Lewis Houghton: Peter's father. A happiness economist and college lecturer. He owns many guns in his house and frequently goes hunting. Lewis tried to introduce Peter to hunting, and often took him on trips, but Peter never liked the sport. When Peter was in jail, he never visited him, instead, he went to the grave of the victims of the shooting. It is revealed that he favored Joey over Peter, but he only acknowledges it at the end.

• Matt Royston: Josie's boyfriend. He is the most popular boy in school and is an aggressive hockey player. Matt and his friend Drew always would bully Peter from kindergarten, shoving, elbowing and hitting him, pulling his pants down and calling him names. He is very abusive to Josie, causing her to break her leg one time. The final victim in the shooting, and the only victim shot twice.

• Jordan McAfee: Peter's defense attorney. He is a recurring character, appeared before in The Pact and Salem Falls. Has a baby son and an older son Thomas (also appears in the Pact and Salem Falls) and is married to Selena McAfee. He takes on Peter's case because he believes that Peter deserves a fair trial.

• Selena McAfee: Jordan's wife who assists with her husband's case and one of the few people who are sympathetic towards Peter. She appeared before in the same books as her husband did, along with Jordan's child from his first marriage, Thomas.

• Drew Girard: One of the popular kids and Matt's best friend. He, along with Matt, would constantly bully Peter and is considered a secondary antagonist. Was shot in the shoulder while he was running with Matt and Josie.

• John Eberhard: One of the popular kids who was wounded in the head during the shooting. He is left with severe brain damage, and is now mentally handicapped.

• Brady Pryce: Another popular kid who dated Haley Weaver. He and Haley were considered "The Brangelina of Sterling High" He was injured protecting Haley in the shooting.

• Haley Weaver: Girlfriend of Brady Pryce and Sterling High senior. She and Brady were considered "The Brangelina of Sterling High". Prior to the shooting, she was elected Homecoming Queen. She was badly injured in the shooting, resulting in many plastic surgery operations on her face.

• Derek Markowitz: Peter's only friend after Josie leaves him for the popular crowd. He and Peter met when their mothers forced them to play soccer together and became friends since. Derek enjoys making computer games, several were co-created with Peter.

• Ed McCabe: A closeted gay math teacher who ends up dying during the shooting. He offered support for Peter, who was confused about his sexuality during the book.

• Courtney Ignatio: Popular girl who hangs out with Josie after she and Peter have a falling out. Courtney dies after being shot in the chest in the shooting. She badly bullied Peter; convincing him that Josie still had feelings for him and then publicly humiliating him.

• Joey Houghton: Peter's dead brother. Joey was the "all American son", good grades, great athlete, etc. He was killed when he got hit by a car driven by a drunk driver, despite the fact that he was well liked, Peter was shown to utterly despise him because he also bullied Peter. We also find that after his death his mother finds out that he was using heroin.

• Logan Rourke: Josie's biological father. Married, and not interested in Josie's life. Tried to bribe Josie with money to leave him alone.

Victims

In order of death:

• Maddie Shaw, Josie's friend and a popular student. She is the first to die.
• Courtney Ignatio, Josie's friend and a popular student, she and Matt Royston were the catalysts that caused the shooting.
• Whit Obermeyer, a student shot in the hallways.
• Topher McPhee, the school's pot dealer.
• Grace Murtaugh, daughter of the town's minister.
• Kaitlyn Harvey, a freshman with Down's syndrome.
• Edward McCabe, the only teacher killed and Peter's former math teacher.
• Noah James, senior and a jock.
• Justin Friedman, fluent in Elvish and unathletic, Jewish.
• Matt Royston, a popular jock, Josie's boyfriend. He was shot once in the stomach by Josie and once in the head by Peter.

Reception

The book received generally favorable reviews by critics, for the writing, character development,^[2] plot twists, and the moral issues raised, including peer pressure, popularity, self-image, school bullying, betrayal and deception, sexual orientation doubt, teen dating violence, suicide, video game violence, single parenthood and communication barriers between adolescents and adults.^[3]

The Associated Press acknowledged that although Peter's guilt cannot be in doubt from a legal perspective, it is hard for readers to know where to put the blame as the story unfolds.^[4] Rocky Mountain News agreed, stating that while the beginning shooting scene makes it "painfully clear who the victims and killer are. As the novel unfolds, Picoult succeeds in lifting those assumptions up for scrutiny, until villains and victims seem to blend into a motley jumble of alliances and rejection."^[2]

The Free Lance-Star mentioned that Nineteen Minutes created a two-sided story that helps readers understand everything about the school shooting, which is more than what normal media coverage will provide about this type of tragedy.^[5] The New York Times praised Picoult's writing, commenting that she "writes articulately and clearly, making her all too much of a rarity among popular authors." ^[6] The Washington Post called the book not only a thriller that is "complete with dismaying carnage, urgent discoveries and 11th-hour revelations", but also a source of serious moral questions about relationships between children and adult, and among children themselves.^[7] The Boston Globe considered Nineteen Minutes "an insightful deconstruction of youthful alienation, of the shattering repercussions of bullying, and the disturbing effects of benign neglect."^[8]

An ambiguous point in the story is the identity of the author of the handwritten journal entries at the start of the book chapters, with New York Times saying this writer may or may not be Peter, although "it doesn't sound like him",^[6][9] and Hippo Press analyzing that whether or not the writer is identified "doesn’t matter"; the author maybe either Josie or Peter, and the point is that the diary pieces "provide insight into the workings of the teenage mind", showing that they are "not all that different."^[3] Peter, the shooter, is also noted by USA Today as a lonely bullied student more similar to the offender in Heath High School shooting in Paducah, Kentucky than the offenders in Columbine High School massacre (Both shooting incidents are mentioned in the story and used by Picoult as materials for research).^[10]

Autobiographical elements

Jodi Picoult says her "children struggled with fitting in and being bullied"^[11] which made them "guinea pigs"^[11] for her characters in the novel. She knew the topic, bullying, was a universal one because everyone has experienced it in some way.

References

External links

• Jodi Picoult official website
• Official Nineteen Minutes entry on MySpace