#1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult is a born storyteller who “writes with a fine touch, a sharp eye for detail, and a firm grasp of the delicacy and complexity of human relationships” (The Boston Globe). Small Great Things is Picoult at her finest–complete with unflinching insights, richly layered characters, and a page-turning plot with a gripping moral dilemma at its heart.
… dilemma at its heart.
Ruth Jefferson, a labor and delivery nurse, begins a routine checkup on a newborn, only to be told a few minutes later that she’s been reassigned to another patient. The parents are white supremacists and don’t want Ruth, who is African American, to touch their child. The hospital complies, but the next day, the baby goes into cardiac distress while Ruth is alone on the ward. Does she obey orders or does she intervene?
Ruth hesitates before performing CPR and, as a result, is charged with a serious crime. Kennedy McQuarrie, a white public defender, takes her case, but Kennedy insists that mentioning race in the courtroom is not a winning strategy. Conflicted by Kennedy’s counsel, Ruth tries to keep life as normal as possible–especially for her teenaged son. And as the trial moves forward, Ruth and Kennedy come to see that what they’ve been taught their whole lives about others–and themselves–might be wrong.
From the Hardcover edition.
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Very thought provoking book highlighting the ugliness of racism, the conflicting emotions and resulting actions it brought about in the lives of the characters. I read a great deal, and oftentimes, even when I throughly enjoy a book, I do not recall the story immediately. I read this a few years ago; not only did it make a lasting impression, but I can recall the story Excellent read.
I love love love this book!
I liked the story, although I can’t relate to the circumstances at all. After working in a hospital setting for years, I’ve never experienced anything like this. That is not to say it hasn’t happened – I just haven’t experienced it. The story definitely makes you think about hate, but I personally prefer to focus on acceptance and change rather than division.
Absolutely LOVED this book!
Excellent book that takes on some controversial subjects. Satisfying ending.
First of all, I would like to commend the author on writing about a subject that many in this country believe is no longer an issue and that this country is beyond racism and white supremacy. How wrong they are. Jodi Picoult takes us out of the bubble that most of us tend to live in and opens our eyes.
This is a powerful, raw and disturbing story that will stay with you for a long time. We all agreed that reading about Turk, the white supremacists and his beliefs were jaw-dropping and horrifying. None of us could comprehend the hatred he felt to people of color and what is even more horrifying is that these groups still exist today. But we had to take a step back and discuss his terrible childhood and upbringing. He was raised to hate, it was in his blood and it was the only way he knew how to live. We are not making excuses for his beliefs just examing the facts and how beliefs are carried down generation after generation and we saw a lot of it in this book.
We all loved Ruth, the victim of racism whose life was turned upside down simply because of the color of her skin. She’s a brilliant mother, a smart woman, a widow and was doing a fine job raising her son, who was an honor roll student.
We felt only compassion for Ruth who lived in fear every day and where being treated, spoken to and stared at because she was black was the norm. She was a successful Nurse who studied at Yale, she lived in a good neighborhood and had a well-mannered smart son but no one paid attention to that, they only saw what was on the outside – the color of her skin.
After reading this book I’m sure many will question their own beliefs. I know I did. It will open your eyes and make you realize that we as a human race, not just a country have a long way to go before we can say that we treat everyone as equal. In our perfect world, we might but the rest of the world needs to get on board.
In conclusion, a riveting book that was hard to put down and a rude awakening to the world we live in.
This book was very educational about the issues of race.
love anything by Jodi Picoult
A powerful book illuminating our continuing struggle with discrimination and racism through the eyes of various characters representing the multifaceted sides of the issues. Well written and a compelling read.
Everyone should read this book! It is mind boggling! Gets better by the page.
Highly recommended – this book is sadly very topical to the current political climate and ugly racism.
So normally I would never pick this book to read myself, but I was out of things to read an my mom had been basically forcing this book down my throat. I thought maybe could just listen to it in the car on my way to and from work. I started crying like 2 minutes in, and was almost late to work because I sat out in the parking lot listening to it. I also work in the Health field and it made me sad that these things really happen and when it happen the hospital is to quick to through someone under the bus, anyways I went in to work and told my desk mate that I was reading this book and everyone wanted to know about it. This book made me feel so many different things I was mad at the young couple, felt bad for the nurse but then I felt bad for the young couple and mad at the nurse. This book you make you think about race and how you react to people who are different from you. How we deal with anger and love and how hate can make us blind with out even knowing it. I really enjoyed it and may read more books from Jodi Picoult.
Although a long read MY GOODNESS what an amazing book! This story sat with me for months after I finished it; it was very hard to get the characters out of my head. Very well written.
This is my first Jodi Picoult read. She is an impressive author. Her characters are well drawn, her research impeccable. So what if one has to suspend disbelief a couple of times? It’s fiction. But the story could be lifted from a news story in any part of America. The book examines systemic racism–through the lives of people of color, white supremicists, and ordinary, privileged caucasians. The last fourth of the book includes a riveting courtroom drama. Must read.
Excellent.
Caught between thinking you are doing the right thing and being held accountable for doing what seemed like the right thing at the time.
It was a very good book. I had a lot of emotions and felt conflicted at times reading this.
Loved, loved, loved this book. Gave me a lot of insight into how people different than me might think.
Jodi Picoult is a master storyteller. For years she has entertained, educated, and challenged readers by confronting social issues through her novels. She writes in a way that transports the reader into the pages and invites us to experience every detail. She is an expert at multiple points of view. She transitions from one character to the next seamlessly, never causing the reader to feel lost or confused. Instead, it feels as if you are there, experiencing their emotions, debating their choices, and living their lives. It is a rare author who can achieve such a feat of telepathy for her readers.
Having been a fan for years I approached her recent release SMALL GREAT THINGS with the same sense of anticipation that precedes reading each of her novels, but never would I have expected the tears, anger, frustration, sadness, and peace that I would experience. Jodi Picoult has again raised the bar in storytelling and we readers are the beneficiaries of it.
Her novel SMALL GREAT THINGS starts with a moment in the protagonist’s childhood that will dictate the course of her life. She witnesses her mother, a black servant in a wealthy white family’s home, helping to birth the matriarch’s child. The moment transcends racial and class divisions. In the few moments that her mother brings the child into the world, the two women are one in pain and then celebration. A miracle of life served as a bridge, albeit temporarily. That moment will replay in Ruth’s mind years later as her entire life hangs in the balance when she’s charged with the murder of a white supremacist’s newborn son.
We walk alongside Ruth as the life she has meticulously built—a successful nursing career and a son who has defied the odds to be an academic star at his school—crumbles, helpless to do anything but watch. In a modern world where color should no longer matter, it is never more apparent than within the pages of Picoult’s story that the shade of our skin still defines the person we are and the prism through which we are viewed.
A modern day TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, Picoult takes you on a heartbreaking journey as Ruth is forced to witness her entire professional career being examined through a distorted lens. On her journey we as readers discover within ourselves that behind every benevolent intention may lie a deeply buried belief. Though Picoult skillfully threads her tale to a satisfying conclusion, the reader is left with the gnawing question: if the protagonist was white, would this still have happened? As in all of Picoult’s books the answer is one the reader will be left pondering for weeks to come.