Okay, so recently I was raving about Jodi Picoult's PLAIN TRUTH.
I went onto her website, and was looking through her other novels. NINETEEN MINUTES caught my attention and I requested it through our library.
Picoult does not disappoint!
While the subject matter was once again difficult and not easily digested, (a school shooting), it stirred me incredibly. I found myself truly wrestling with the whole idea of bullying and what advice/approach I want to take when my children potentially face this ugly fact of life.
I know what I believe from a faith standpoint.
I know the realities of wanting to fit in.
I know what public schooling is like (having gone through it for all but my kindergarten year--but overall had a very positive experience), and the "policies" often in place regarding this issue. I also know the "benefits" of private/homeschooling, but feel strongly that kids need to be able to interact with the secular world to a certain degree so they're not bulldozed later on. To what degree, and what each child can handle varies...it's a personal choice.
All I can say is, this book really got the wheels turning in my head. It is again a piece of secular fiction, but I was just amazed at how delicately Picoult handled this issue--especially in light of the school shootings that have happened in the last decade or so. It's like she crawled into an actual high schoolers head! A bit scary I admit, but a faithful rendering once again.
Read it! :o)
I went onto her website, and was looking through her other novels. NINETEEN MINUTES caught my attention and I requested it through our library.
Picoult does not disappoint!
While the subject matter was once again difficult and not easily digested, (a school shooting), it stirred me incredibly. I found myself truly wrestling with the whole idea of bullying and what advice/approach I want to take when my children potentially face this ugly fact of life.
I know what I believe from a faith standpoint.
I know the realities of wanting to fit in.
I know what public schooling is like (having gone through it for all but my kindergarten year--but overall had a very positive experience), and the "policies" often in place regarding this issue. I also know the "benefits" of private/homeschooling, but feel strongly that kids need to be able to interact with the secular world to a certain degree so they're not bulldozed later on. To what degree, and what each child can handle varies...it's a personal choice.
All I can say is, this book really got the wheels turning in my head. It is again a piece of secular fiction, but I was just amazed at how delicately Picoult handled this issue--especially in light of the school shootings that have happened in the last decade or so. It's like she crawled into an actual high schoolers head! A bit scary I admit, but a faithful rendering once again.
Read it! :o)
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