Book Review--Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult

This is an extremely well-written book, but it has to be one of the most upsetting books I've ever read. Brace yourself when you read this. You should read it, by the way. It's fiction, but it resonates with anyone who has been a bullying victim at school or watched their child go through it.

It's about a school shooting. Seventeen-year-old Peter Houghton set off a pipe bomb in the parking lot of his high school as a distraction, then went into his high school, where he'd been a daily target of vicious bullying, and killed 10 people and wounded 19.

The book shifts fluidly between the time of the shooting and its aftermath, and the events leading up to it. It also alternates points of view--from Peter, to Josie, to Alex, to Lacy, to a police officer (Patrick Ducharme, who was a character in one of Picoult's earlier books), and Peter's defense lawyer, Jordan McAfee, (also a character in an earlier novel).

Peter's mother, Lacy, met Alex, the mother of Josie Cormier, a classmate of Peter's, in a prenatal class that she was teaching. Lacy was a nurse-midwife. Alex was a public defender who later became a judge. Alex was about to become a single mother. Lacy's husband, Lewis, was a college professor. His area of expertise was--get ready for the ultimate irony--the economics of happiness. Lacy already had one child, Joey, about a year old at the time. Alex and Lacy became friends, and so did Peter and Josie.

Peter looked forward to kindergarten. He couldn't wait to go to school like his big brother Joey did. His mother gave him brand-new Superman lunch box, told his big brother to look out for Peter, and put them on the bus.

When Peter got on the bus, he sat down beside his friend Josie. His brother was busy ignoring him. And another kid snatched Peter's lunch box out of his hands and threw it out the window of the bus.

The bus driver managed not to notice this. I rode many, many school buses when I was a kid, and I just can't imagine a bus driver not noticing someone throw a rather large object out the window. Not unless they really, really didn't want to notice. He did manage to notice Peter standing up in the aisle though, and yelled at him to sit down.

Thus began Peter's school career. Lacy went to speak with his kindergarten teacher at one point about the bullying. The teacher told her, among other things, that sometimes when the bullies were punished, they'd take it out on Peter. She seemed to think this absolved the school from doing anything about it. Lacy came away from the conversation telling Peter that he had to stand up for himself the next time someone began bullying him, or she'd punish him by canceling his play dates with Josie. Not a whole lot of sympathy, no conversation about how he might go about this without making things worse or if it was even appropriate for him to stand up for himself in certain situations. Sometimes it's just too dangerous or just doesn't work.

Don't get me wrong. I actually do think Peter's parents loved him and tried to do their best for him. But I can't help but cringe at the way they handled some things, the kindergarten incident being a prime example. They also didn't seem to realize that Peter's brother was a HUGE part of the problem. Peter couldn't seem to do anything--sports, grades, whatever, as well as Joey. And Peter knew that everyone else--including his parents--knew this. His home didn't seem to be a safe place for Peter to tell his family what was really going on, although certainly they were aware of some of it. After the shooting, Lacy told Jordan, Peter's defense lawyer that Peter had adored Joey, who had been tragically killed in a drunk driving accident a year earlier.

Peter told Jordan that Joey had routinely dropped him off a block or so before they got to school so Joey wouldn't have to be seen with him. Peter said that he hated his brother and was glad he was dead.

It's difficult to sympathize when someone says things like that. Certainly it's difficult to sympathize with someone who killed ten people and wounded nineteen, including some kids who had been outcasts themselves and a teacher who had tried to connect with Peter. But honestly, I read most of the book just wanting to cry for Peter. He was initially a sensitive, sweet kid, and his parents, the schools, and the other kids all had a hand in turning him into someone else entirely.

The school did everything you're not supposed to do these days. They usually didn't intervene when Peter was bullied. They played favorites, treating the popular kids better than the others. Once when Peter and some other students played a prank, Peter got in trouble but the other students didn't, because the other students were on the basketball team and had a game on Saturday. Josie chose a girl named Courtney as a lab partner, even though Courtney wasn't a great science student. Why? Because Courtney was a cheerleader, and the physics teacher was also the cheerleading coach. Josie and Courtney knew no matter how skimpy their lab reports were, they'd get an A. The school did not set up a safe environment for all the students. One month before the shooting, a bully pulled down Peter's pants in the cafeteria. There were no repercussions for the bully for this. The adult who finally came along chastised both of them.

Josie had been friends with Peter up until 6th grade. Then it got too embarrassing to be seen with him. Like her mother the judge, Josie was very image conscious. Josie learned it home that it wasn't okay to be herself, and that what other people thought of her was of paramount importance. This attitude was fostered by the school environment. She got very good at pretending to be someone she wasn't, and she was accepted by the popular group. She always felt like the slightest misstep would cause her to be an outcast again. She ended up dating one of the boys who frequently tormented Peter and even was abusive to her on occasion.

I came away from reading this with an overwhelming sense that this didn't have to happen. While I don't believe that Peter did could ever be excused, I could see how he felt driven to it. If Peter had gotten the help he needed, he definitely wouldn't have done anything like this. If only the adults in their lives had done things differently, the whole tragedy could have been avoided.

There are some things that kids need to be explicitly taught that sometimes aren't. Empathy coaching could have helped the bullies develop more compassion for people who weren't like them. The school certainly wasn't doing them any favors by allowing them to get away with it. Bullies tend to get in serious trouble when they're adults. For Peter's part, he tended to miss social cues. He tended to be unaware of how he came across to others until it was too late and he had done something that caused himself or someone else (generally Josie) embarrassment. He had too few defenses. Josie had too many and ended up thinking she had to go along with the crowd or else. Social skills, empathy, getting along with others, respecting differences--these things don't necessarily come naturally to kids. And while school shootings are thankfully rare, I don't think it's reasonable to expect kids to come through bullying experiences unscathed. Who among us can't remember at least one awful moment from school, something that's still upsetting to think about? Being bullied can and often does cause permanent scars.

This book was well-researched and really drives the issue of school bullying and violence home. For bullying prevention resources, visit her website at jodipicoult.com.