I’m in the “12 Years before” chapter of Nineteen Minutes and this chapter talks about the friendships Josie and Peter and then Alex and Lacy have made, but the feud the mothers get into.
In this chapter, I learned that Peter and Josie are in kindergarten and that Peter has been getting picked on lately. He got new glasses and was given the name “Four Eyes”. His parents also bought him a new lunchbox, but boys on his and Josie’s bus stole the lunchbox and threw it out the window. Peter had to get a new one, but then that lunchbox was thrown out the window too. His parents said if it happened again he’d be punished. It happened for the third time, so he was grounded which in a way isn’t fair because Peter couldn’t do much about the bullying.
Earlier on though, Lacy and Alex were chatting at Lacy’s house because Alex was coming to pick up Josie. They couldn’t find the kids but then heard them in the basement playing. But they weren’t playing. Josie had Peter’s fathers rifle in her hands and Peter was showing her what to do. Alex was appalled to see this and immediately said goodbye to Peter and Lacy. I don’t know if this incident is still the reason for Lacy and Alex’s lack of communication, but I will find out soon.
I do think that the two mothers finding Peter and Josie with a gun could be foreshadowing because Peter was the shooter at the high school. This makes me wonder though, where does this leave Josie? Could she in fact, be a shooter too?
*In response to the end of my last blog, I think Peter and Josie’s mom are still in a bit of a fight because of the gun incident back when Josie and Peter were in kindergarten.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Letter to the author
Dear Jodi Picoult,
I’m currently reading your book Nineteen Minutes and I like it very much. So far, I’ve grasped that the plot is about a school shooting at Sterling High School and the mystery of what actually happened. At first I asked myself why you’d chose to write about a topic like this but then I read that your own children have struggled with making friends and so you considered this topic. I also wondered if you were making any connection or basing the book off of the Columbine or Virginia Tech shootings? In the first chapter, there were lots of great descriptions of what Peter Haughton was doing and I wanted to know if you did a lot of research on school shootings? Did you interview past victims to get the emotions or thoughts they were feeling? Or did you research the actions of the shooters in incidents like Columbine? Lastly, while reading I’ve read two letters or notes that a character has written and I wanted to know who was the speaker? I think it may be Josie because she says she doesn’t like her life, but then again Peter was the shooter who was possibly getting “revenge”. I find your book a breathtaking story so far and am curious to see what the outcome of this tragic incident is.
Sincerely,
Emily
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*Random question: In the end of chapter one, Patrick finds Josie unconscious but not wounded in the locker room with Peter and Matt (who is now dead). I was curious to know why Josie wasn’t shot. Is it because Peter’s mom and Josie’s mom are/were friends? I’ve read that Josie and Peter were friends in kindergarten, are they still friends now?
I’m currently reading your book Nineteen Minutes and I like it very much. So far, I’ve grasped that the plot is about a school shooting at Sterling High School and the mystery of what actually happened. At first I asked myself why you’d chose to write about a topic like this but then I read that your own children have struggled with making friends and so you considered this topic. I also wondered if you were making any connection or basing the book off of the Columbine or Virginia Tech shootings? In the first chapter, there were lots of great descriptions of what Peter Haughton was doing and I wanted to know if you did a lot of research on school shootings? Did you interview past victims to get the emotions or thoughts they were feeling? Or did you research the actions of the shooters in incidents like Columbine? Lastly, while reading I’ve read two letters or notes that a character has written and I wanted to know who was the speaker? I think it may be Josie because she says she doesn’t like her life, but then again Peter was the shooter who was possibly getting “revenge”. I find your book a breathtaking story so far and am curious to see what the outcome of this tragic incident is.
Sincerely,
Emily
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
*Random question: In the end of chapter one, Patrick finds Josie unconscious but not wounded in the locker room with Peter and Matt (who is now dead). I was curious to know why Josie wasn’t shot. Is it because Peter’s mom and Josie’s mom are/were friends? I’ve read that Josie and Peter were friends in kindergarten, are they still friends now?
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Nineteen Minutes
For my second quarter outside reading project, I’m reading the book Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. I’ve read the first chapter (to pg.25) and already, a LOT has happened.
The story takes place in New Hampshire in a small town called Sterling. Josie Cormier and her mother, Alex, reside in the town. Alex is a judge and Josie is a junior in high school.
On what was thought to be a normal day turned into a tragedy and nobody in the town was prepared for something like this to happen. Throughout the morning in school, Picoult describes a few different students and what they were up to that day before the school shooting happened. Someone (it could be one person or more) first set off a bomb, and then a boy (again, there may have been more than one kid) went through the school shooting kids. I’m guessing the shooter was somehow getting revenge because on the first page a character says, “In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge.”
Picoult describes the crime scene well and I can almost picture myself walking through the hallways of Sterling High School, seeing all the bodies sprawled about and blood that’s sprayed the walls. I noticed while Picoult was describing some of the characters days, she talked about these two boys who wished they could get out of gym class. It was kind of ironic how they said maybe an earthquake, monsoon, or terrorist attack would get them out of class...which is what happened. Another thing I noticed is that these 2 boys were talking about this in the gym and that’s where detective/policeman Patrick handcuffed the shooter in the gym locker room, which is also where Patrick found those same two boys dead (but in the gym).
The story takes place in New Hampshire in a small town called Sterling. Josie Cormier and her mother, Alex, reside in the town. Alex is a judge and Josie is a junior in high school.
On what was thought to be a normal day turned into a tragedy and nobody in the town was prepared for something like this to happen. Throughout the morning in school, Picoult describes a few different students and what they were up to that day before the school shooting happened. Someone (it could be one person or more) first set off a bomb, and then a boy (again, there may have been more than one kid) went through the school shooting kids. I’m guessing the shooter was somehow getting revenge because on the first page a character says, “In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge.”
Picoult describes the crime scene well and I can almost picture myself walking through the hallways of Sterling High School, seeing all the bodies sprawled about and blood that’s sprayed the walls. I noticed while Picoult was describing some of the characters days, she talked about these two boys who wished they could get out of gym class. It was kind of ironic how they said maybe an earthquake, monsoon, or terrorist attack would get them out of class...which is what happened. Another thing I noticed is that these 2 boys were talking about this in the gym and that’s where detective/policeman Patrick handcuffed the shooter in the gym locker room, which is also where Patrick found those same two boys dead (but in the gym).
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