Small Great Things - Jodi Picoult

Small Great Things

By Jodi Picoult

  • Release Date: 2016-10-11
  • Genre: Fiction & Literature
4.5 Score: 4.5 (From 3,533 Ratings)

Description

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • With richly layered characters and a gripping moral dilemma that will lead readers to question everything they know about privilege, power, and race, Small Great Things is the stunning new page-turner from Jodi Picoult.

SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE

“[Picoult] offers a thought-provoking examination of racism in America today, both overt and subtle. Her many readers will find much to discuss in the pages of this topical, moving book.”—Booklist (starred review)

Ruth Jefferson is a labor and delivery nurse at a Connecticut hospital with more than twenty years’ experience. During her shift, Ruth 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 with their request, but the next day, the baby goes into cardiac distress while Ruth is alone in the nursery. 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 gives unexpected advice: 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 for her family—especially her teenage son—as the case becomes a media sensation. As the trial moves forward, Ruth and Kennedy must gain each other’s trust, and come to see that what they’ve been taught their whole lives about others—and themselves—might be wrong.

With incredible empathy, intelligence, and candor, Jodi Picoult tackles race, privilege, prejudice, justice, and compassion—and doesn’t offer easy answers. Small Great Things is a remarkable achievement from a writer at the top of her game.

Praise for Small Great Things

Small Great Things is the most important novel Jodi Picoult has ever written. . . . It will challenge her readers . . . [and] expand our cultural conversation about race and prejudice.”The Washington Post

“A novel that puts its finger on the very pulse of the nation that we live in today . . . a fantastic read from beginning to end, as can always be expected from Picoult, this novel maintains a steady, page-turning pace that makes it hard for readers to put down.”San Francisco Book Review

Reviews

  • Small great things is the title of the book but by far it’s a barrier of greatness by Jodi Picoult

    5
    By Strawberry616
    This book was a great read that I gave 5 stars for many reasons. This master piece was written very carefully with great attention to detail from a historical standpoint related to racism. It took courage, understanding, and passion for the author to write this book. Not to mention, how she had to step outside of her comfort zone to be able to see different perspectives from the lens of African Americans. To be able to truly understand discrimination, segregation, micro aggression, oppression and racism from an African American point of view was a big great thing. Here are my book review take aways the literary techniques that was outstanding are the analogy, the imagery, the tone, the mood but most importantly the symbolism. Additionally, if you want to make a positive change in society this is how you used your audience or platform to do it one small step at a time which leads to small great things.
  • Great ending!

    5
    By Damaryz - R.
    Amazing story of race; ultimately the human race. Must read.
  • Pageturner

    5
    By Little s d g
    This book was a page turner. It delves into several Social issues current today. It also causes one to question themselves.
  • Makes you think!

    5
    By LGowner
    Interesting and controversial book. Not light reading but worth the read. Haven’t read a bad “Jodi” book yet.
  • Excellent!

    5
    By EC461OCBV
    I recommend this book constantly it’s so well researched and written One of the best books I’ve ever read ….. ever!
  • Riveting

    5
    By missrcade
    What great writing. I was engulfed in these characters. I felt like I really knew them. Thank you for telling such a difficult story.
  • So good

    5
    By fminnick
    I really loved this book. I read it for one of my classes during nursing school and it turned out to be so good. It was heartbreaking but also kept me on my toes. I recommend.
  • Not an audiobook

    1
    By ~Timeka
    This is not an audiobook
  • Wonderful

    5
    By allnightup!
    This book was hard to read, but I’m so glad I did. Wonderful!
  • Loved it!

    5
    By MacBeers
    Thank you! I absolutely loved this story.

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