Book Review: Small Great Things and Shine By Jodi Picoult

SMALL GREAT THINGS
A Novel

By: Jodi Picoult

Published: October 11, 2016

Publisher:

Fiction



In 2012, best-selling author Jodi Picoult saw a news story about an African-American nurse who was asked be removed from the care of a certain baby due to a request by a white supremacist family. The nurse sued the hospital for discrimination and they settled out of court. Picoult tells in a Time Magazine article that this got her asking a number of "What Ifs" and led to the premise of her new book.

Ruth Walker has been a labor and delivery nurse for over twenty years. When she takes over for the nurse going off shift, she enters the room of the Bauers to take care of their newborn, Davis. When she attempts to help the mother nurse, the father, Turk, asks her to leave the room immediately and eventually Ruth finds out she's been reassigned to another patient and she is not to have any contact with the Bauers or their son because she is an African-American. After a busy afternoon on the labor and delivery floor, Ruth is unexpectedly assigned to monitor Davis after his circumcision because no other nurses are available. Davis goes into respiratory arrest while in Ruth's care. She must decide whether to follow orders and not touch the baby, or follow her oath as a nurse and try to save this baby.  When the Code Blue is alerted, the staff are unable to revive Davis and Ruth is eventually charged with his murder. Through the chapters, readers hear from the perspectives of Ruth, Turk, and Kennedy, the lawyer assigned to Ruth's case.

Picoult's novel is timely and causes readers to feel uncomfortable as she talks racism from the perspective of all three main characters. Turk, Brittany, and her father's feelings towards anyone that isn't white were difficult to read. I often felt my stomach churning and disliking the direction the story was going. I had to take breaks after reading Turk's chapters because they were so full of hate and anger. Picoult admits, that type of racism is easy to spot and criticize. But, the racism that many of us ignore and display are more difficult to admit. Some readers will likely feel ashamed as Kennedy talks about her own racial ignorance.

Picoult states "It was the hardest book I've ever written" due to her own evaluation of prejudice and privilege. As the reader moves through the trial, prejudices will be questioned. Of course, Picoult has her signature shake-ups and twists to drop jaws and keep readers guessing what the outcome will be. I felt like the story was realistic except I did have an issue with one piece of the story. Since the Bauers were so against an African-American nurse, I had a hard time understanding their acceptance of an African-American lawyer handling the murder case for their son. But, that character added another level to the racism expressed towards Ruth in the story.

Fans of Jodi Picoult won't be disappointed with her latest page-turner and readers will desperately want to find someone to talk to about the way the novel made them feel and, like with any other book, they'll want to talk about the ending. Picoult chose the title of the book from the quote by Dr. Martin Luther King,  "If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way." I hope this novel makes each of us look at the small ways we can make changes in our society.

SHINE
A Short Story

By: Jodi Picoult

Published: September 13, 2016

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Fiction/Short Story



This prequel tells Ruth's story growing up in Harlem. We meet her as a third grader, starting in a new, private school. Her mother is the maid for a wealthy family and Ruth is allowed to go to school with their daughter, Christina. Ruth has earned the privilege by her work ethic and grades. But, going to an all-white school isn't all the Ruth thought it would be.

This short story gives the reader a bit of background on the early racism Ruth experienced as a child. It also shares the life of her sister, Adisa, her mother, and Christina's family while Ruth was growing up. It isn't necessary to read this before reading SMALL GREAT THINGS, but it does give the reader a bit of understanding of Ruth's decisions and feelings toward certain family members.

Jodi Picoult - source

Jodi Picoult is the author of twenty-three novels, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers Leaving Time, The Storyteller, Lone Wolf, Between the Lines, Sing You Home, House Rules, Handle with Care, Change of Heart, Nineteen Minutes, and My Sister’s Keeper. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children. For more info, check out her website, HERE. 

To purchase a copy of SMALL GREAT THINGS or SHINE, click the photos below:





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Thanks to the publisher for sending an ecopy of this book for the purpose of this review. This review is my honest opinion. If you choose to purchase these books through the above links, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase. Thanks for supporting SincerelyStacie.com. 

Book Review: Larger Than Life By Jodi Picoult

LARGER THAN LIFE
Novella

By: Jodi Picoult

Published: August 4, 2014

Publisher: Ballantine Books

eBook

Fiction

The new trend in book publishing is for authors to come out with a novella or short story that gives the reader a bit more information and often times, the backstory behind the main characters in the novel. This short story is written to grab the readers interest before their big book comes out and of course, make you want to read the rest of the story. Heather Gudenkauf did this with her short story, LITTLE LIES before LITTLE MERCIES was published. See my review for them, HERE.

Jodi Picoult's fans have been waiting for her newest book LEAVING TIME and I have certainly been one of them.  As a book reviewer, I tend to not always get to read the books that I want to read because I have a long list of review books to get to. But there are just some authors that I make room for in my reading and Picoult is one of them.  When I saw she also had a novella, I knew I wanted to read that as well. I kind of like the idea of a shorter story that draws you into the characters.  These short stories are usually only available as an eBook and are usually very low-cost or free.

LARGER THAN LIFE takes us back to an earlier time in the life of Alice. We learn a bit about her childhood and life with her single mother.  Alice is turned on to science one day when she comes home to a newly decorated room, equipped with a microscope. After that day, Alice never looked back and eventually becomes a Harvard graduate and an elephant researcher in Africa.

Even though this novella is less than a hundred pages, Picoult has a way of writing that makes even the shortest stories worth reading. We become attached to Alice and her elephant calf, Lesego. We understand her frustrations with her mom while she was growing up and her loneliness for companionship as an adult. Reading this novella gives us the history of Alice's relationships to take us right into LEAVING TIME where we move forward several years to Alice's daughter, Jenna. Jenna is a teenager and looking for her missing mother.

I'm anxious to crack open LEAVING TIME after reading this and I know you will be too. LARGER THAN LIFE is only available as an eBook and as of right now is just $1.99 on Kindle.

To purchase a copy of LARGER THAN LIFE, click the photo below:

Review: Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult

Every expectant parent will tell you that they don't want a perfect baby, just a healthy one. Charlotte and Sean O'Keefe would have asked for a healthy baby, too, if they'd been given the choice. Instead, their lives are made up of sleepless nights, mounting bills, the pitying stares of "luckier" parents, and maybe worst of all, the what-ifs. What if their child had been born healthy? But it's all worth it because Willow is, well, funny as it seems, perfect. She's smart as a whip, on her way to being as pretty as her mother, kind, brave, and for a five-year-old an unexpectedly deep source of wisdom. Willow is Willow, in sickness and in health.

Everything changes, though, after a series of events forces Charlotte and her husband to confront the most serious what-ifs of all. What if Charlotte should have known earlier of willow's illness? What if things could have been diffferent? What if their beloved Willow had never been born? To do Willow justice, Charlotte must ask herself these questions and one more. What constitutes a valuable life?

Willow has osteogenesis imperfecta or OI. She was born with numerous broken bones and will continue to break bones the rest of her life, sometimes just by rolling over in her bed. It was hard to imagine having a child so "breakable" and how your life would be affected by that. The story features Charlotte and Sean as the parents, Amelia, the older sister, and Willow. Then it brings in Piper, Charlotte's best friend and Marin, the attorney. Each chapter is given the heading of one of the characters and written from their perspective. The story is written to Willow, with each character talking to her. I enjoyed this kind of chapter break up. It made it easy to follow along, but did make you wait sometimes for the result of a situation for a few chapters after going through each character involved.

I have to admit, I did not like Charlotte's character. It was very difficult for me to get into this story because I didn't care about the main characters and didn't like path the story was taking. But, since I love Picoult's books, I had to keep plugging along. Picoult won me over eventually and the story ended up gripping at my heart and causing all kinds of emotions. Picoult is known for her twists at the end and this book does NOT disappoint. I think the reader has to be prepared, especially if you are a mother, for the frustration and anger you may have while reading this story.

There are many stories inside this one book involving each individual character. Each character has their own struggles and you are anxious to get to "their chapter" to find out what is going to happen next.

I gave this 4 out of 5 stars mainly because it took me awhile to get "involved" in the story. But, the story is definately worth reading and gives you a new cause, OI, to become informed about. I have never even heard of this disease before reading this book. So, I thank Picoult for informing me about this disabling disease and making me more aware of my personal judgments toward the disabled. If you are the parent of a disabled child, my heart and prayers go out to you today.

My Sister's Keeper Movie Review

I have been anxiously awaiting the debut of "My Sister's Keeper", the movie based of the novel by the same name by Jodi Picoult. I LOVED the book and couldn't wait to see the movie. My friend, Tammy, and I planned to see it on opening night. Unfortunately, we were very disappointed. I would suppose that if someone hadn't read the book, they would probably like the movie. Of course the movie is about cancer and a sibling who no longer wants to use her body to help save her sister. So, the topic isn't a happy one. But, there was so much more they could have done with the movie. I felt the character development was very weak. Alec Baldwin played the lawyer and he was such a pivotal character in the book, but wasn't as amazing in the movie. Jesse, the troubled brothers character, was also not as developed as he could have been in the movie. But then other external family members were part of the movie who I think were completely unnecessary to the storyline. I think the actress who played Kate was amazing and the makeup used to show her cancer was very realistic. I loved seeing Jason Patric as the father. It has been years since I have seen him in something and he looks as good as I remember him! :) The ending of the movie was the most frustrating. I think any lovers of Jodi Picoult's novels know relish in the twists and unexpected storylines and this movie adaptation ruined that for us. It totally changed the flow of the whole story and really ruined it for me. Again, I think if you haven't read the book, you probably won't be as disappointed. I would love to know Jodi Picoult's take on the movie and her feelings on the storyline. I would give this a 2 out of 5 stars.