“Nineteen Minutes” Is All It Takes
In a little world surrounded by cruel people, in my opinion, can easily drive a person to their limits just as what happened in one of the most realistic novel I have read, Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, to one of the main characters Peter Houghton because of bullying, which lead to screaming details, real-life situations, and heart racing decisions. Bullying as most know is very prevalent in the world. Some cases may be more severe than other. This case was one of the more severe bullying issues.
It was March 6, 2007 when Peter Houghton had enough of the bullying he was put through, whether it was being called names or being pushed into a locker, he was fed up. It was this day he decided to bring attention to the situation and start firing guns at students, which eventually left nine students and one teacher dead and several other students injured. The book in my eyes would be known for its eye-catching detail. This is what makes the book good. “Ceiling tiles had been shot off, and a fine gray dust coated the broken bodies that lay twisted on the floor” (Picoult). The detail being put into this sentence help visualize what was exactly seen while walking into the school of a student who had just opened fire on everybody. The screaming detail is not just during the shooting. Picoult takes some twists and turns to go back in time for the readers to see what drove Peter to such madness. “His lunch box burst open on the asphalt. His apple rolled across the dotted yellow line of the road and vanished beneath the tire of an oncoming car” (Picoult). Twelve years ago is when this event took place. This was the start of the bullying and the details added how horrifying it looked to a little five year staring out the bus window as his brand new lunch box was being chucked out the window. Details help develop a story and its dialogue. Pictures speak a thousand words and the details gone into this book make for a picture perfect novel.
In addition to the attention getting details, this book also illustrates real-life situations. As a teenager in this world, I am able to see what profuse bullying can do to people. It is shown on the news, in the newspapers, or all over social media. Children who are bullied can only take so much before they go insane. On the news in 2007, a child in California shot up his school and the cause was bullying. This just does not happen in books, it also happens in everyday life. This book brings up several real life events, not only the shooting,  but even the events leading up to the shooting. “His milk sprayed all over hid binder, melting the newspaper into a muddy clot and revealing the Superman graphic beneath (Picoult). “Are you wearing your Underoos, too, Houghton”’(Peter). Being judged is a major part in society and plays a factor into the worst bullying technique to exist. In seventh grade one of the boys saw Peter’s Superman binder and immediately started judging him. He did not care how Peter felt. Children only care about looking cool in fronton their friends, so making fun of a person is one way to get noticed by your friends, which is also what leads to bullying  in the phenomenal book Nineteen Minutes.
Alternatively these striking details and real life situations all lead to heart racing decisions that were made. Peter Houghton was the minority every time he did something whether it be playing a sport or just walking the halls. The dialogue in this book helps depict which decision is most likely going to be made. “She remembered being in nursery school with Peter - how other boys would pick up sticks or rocks and run around yelling Hands up” (Picoult). Even though this took place long ago, it is easily seen what Peter went through and what he was most likely going to go through when he was in high school. All the bullying that happened in the past, made the readers realize what decisions were about to be made. It was one of the biggest decisions Peter had to make; to shoot up the school. Even in everyday life, a person has to make heart racing decisions like Peter did. Everyday kids go through the halls getting bullied and have to decide what to do, whether they tell an adult or let it drive them to the point of insanity. They have to decide that if they tell a teacher what other consequences they are going to have to face when the bully finds out they “tattled”. This is also the decisions Peter had to make. Decisions can make or break a person. We live in a world where nothing is clear anymore and we will never know the right decision unless it is made.
Overall, bullying cannot really be stopped, which was prevalent in the book. Peter Houghton tried telling his teachers what was happening, but none of them really cared and told him to just shake it off. What makes this book so good, is the fact that it resembles real life. I feel as if bullying will never be completely stop and adults have no way in stopping it no matter how hard they try. The bully is going to have the mindset to keep bullying that person until the end no matter what the consequences are. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult is a must read novel because of the screaming details, real life situations, and heart racing decisions that are depicted throughout the whole novel.