Thanks to
Lifelongreader who points out that there is a
podcast on Jodi Picoult's web site which gives some background to Nineteen Minutes. Two of her novels have been challenged.
The Pact which has been covered in an
earlier post and
Nineteen Minutes, her latest novel which was banned from the high school in her home town of Hanover.
The book has been pulled off the reading list at the local high school in Hanover, N.H., Picoult’s hometown. Picoult calls the school’s decision “crazy and really sad” and is making no apologies for this latest story. It comes following a year that saw a record number of school shootings across the U.S., seven of them fatal. “I subscribe to the theory that kids are a lot smarter than we give them credit for and that trying to protect them by pretending these issues don’t exist is not doing them any good,” said Picoult, 40, who has a teenaged son attending that school in Hanover.
School officials are concerned that the setting resembles the layout of the high school in Hanover and that students might find that traumatic.
Thanks to Lifelongreader who points out that there is a podcast on Jodi Picoult's web site which gives some background to Nineteen Minutes. Two of her novels have been challenged. The Pact which has been covered in an earlier post and Nineteen Minutes, her latest novel which was banned from the high school in her home town of Hanover.
School officials are concerned that the setting resembles the layout of the high school in Hanover and that students might find that traumatic.
6 comments:
Interesting. I actually just don't like Jodi Piccoult's books. I've read just one, so maybe that isn't fair, but it seems like in each one she chooses a different subject that will be emotionally gut-wrenching, and slightly improbable to the average reader, and writes a story around it. They all have "good read" and "book club" written all over them. They sort of strike me as the People Magazine of literature. They are compelling and pull you along, but will you respect yourself in the morning?
I haven't read any of them, but when I see that something has been banned, then I want to read it. Just to annoy the censor :) and encourage teh writer.
I live in just a few towns over from Hanover. One of the towns mentioned in the book actually. I know that the highschool is very similar, I still don't understand the banning though.
I'm about half way through the book. I love it. It grabs my attention, but she has a tendency to jump around;
I've only read this book, but so far i think shes doing a good job.
I really love Jodi Picoult's books, I have read, My Sisters Keeper and The Pact and they pull me in and play with my emotions. The Pact was one of the only books that made me jump up and down, and My Sisters Keeper is a real tear-jerker. I also think that banning any book just makes some readers want to read it more, and i don't know if i really understand banning of any of Jodi Picoult's books.
I've read about seven of Jodi Picoult's books. I really want to read Nineteen Minutes, but as I am in my first year of college I've been really busy. As soon as I get a chance though I will read it. The fact that it was banned makes it that much more compelling to read.
To Suzy, I think that you should give Jodi Picoult another chance. For one, yes I do respect myself in the morning. I can't see any reason why reading her books would cause me to lose respect for myself. Second, she presents controversial issues and lets the reader develop their own ideas on them. If this makes them "the People Magazine of literature" then so be it, and I would still be just as enticed by everyone of her books.
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