Play Book Tag discussion

Small Great Things is the first book I have read by Jodi Picoult, and it will not be the last. Writing novels of this depth, stories that ask the reader to reach beyond entertainment to additionally be moved by an idea, a concept, a discussion that involves controversy and debate, is always risky for a writer. There may be readers that don't want to work that hard, and some might not agree with the conclusions drawn, while others might be offended by explorations of diverse lives and characters. For readers like me, I am thrilled to be engaged by ideas, and questions surrounding a story that propels forward with nail-biting intensity. Small Great Things is one of those stories.

In this book, Picoult presents a complex topic with a host of complicated and varied characters that kept me conflicted and engaged until the very last page. She wrote this story in such compelling and heart-wrenching ways that you feel for the characters and their lives even if you don't always agree with whatever situations they are presenting. This story is a complex and multilayered story of race, discrimination, and in the end some redemption.

The story is told through three perspectives: Ruth, a black nurse who loses her job and is charged with a crime due to a situation involving a baby; Kennedy, the white attorney who represents her; and Turk, the white supremacist father of the baby involved. Ruth is a remarkable woman and a Labor and Delivery nurse. Kennedy, a public defender, is often misguided in her attempts to relate to and assist Ruth, as being a white woman her experiences trying to navigate and truly understand this complex and tangled world of race and privilege was a learning experience. Turk, the baby’s father, and his wife were bigoted, close-minded, and hypocritical and while I could empathize with their grief at losing their son so suddenly, their misdirected blame and hate towards Ruth and anyone who was not white, made it impossible to feel anything for them.

There are no easy answers or real resolutions to the situations expressed in Small Great Things, and I think anyone looking for that is missing the point of what is being discussed. This was a page-turning novel that grabbed my attention, pulling me toward the conclusion, while offering something of merit and meaning in the tale.

Rachel, fabulous review for s fabulous book and author. 20 of her like 23 books are outstanding! The two she wrote with her daughter are still good, and one I haven’t read as I heard it doesn’t live up to the others. You will have a lot of catching up to do with the exquisite Jodi. You know she’s great friends with Alice Hoffman.

Amy wrote: "Rachel, fabulous review for s fabulous book and author. 20 of her like 23 books are outstanding! The two she wrote with her daughter are still good, and one I haven’t read as I heard it doesn’t liv..."

I did not know this!! I really enjoyed her books and want to read more of her books.