nineteenminutes

//NINETEEN MINUTES// by JODI PICOULT

 * RULES:**
 * 1.) if you don't read you don't get credit or get to eat
 * 2.) if you don't do your role, you have to do an extra next week.
 * 3.) if you do it again, than you bring in the food and watch us eat.
 * 4.) If you don't do your job 3 times, you're out. like legit. just sit in the hallway. shun. bye.

The main character of this book is Peter Houghton. He was the school shooter. He wanted to shoot all the people that had bullied him before. One of the other main characters is Josie Cormier. Her mom was the judge on Peter's case. She wasn't shot, but her boyfriend, Matt was, and she used to be best friends with Peter. Judge Cormier, or Alex, was Josie's mom, and the judge on the case. She didn't originally want to have Josie. Lacy is Peter's mom. Her and Alex used to be best friends, but they got into a fight. Patrick is the cop in charge of the case against Peter. Another main character is Peter's lawyer, Jordan. Everyone thought he was crazy to take Peter's case, but he had a son himself, so he understood what Peter's parents were going through. Every involved with Peter, his parents and his lawyer, were hated because everybody believed Peter was a monster. Our group today found quotes and wrote them down on our wikispaces. We ate our food and had a long discussion about the book. Unfortnately only Ashely brought food, but ate it during lunch and so the group next to us gladly gave us their food. It was really intense. We talked about what you would be able to do in nineteen minutes like go to friendly's or take a shower. We discussed all of the questions like who was the shooter and why would he shoot the girl of his dreams. We said that Peter shot the girl because she made fun of him,but it was an accident.
 * Summary for 10/1/10- Marilin**

Then we read some of the quotations and discussed why Amanda picked that specific quotes. Our group said that the book was really great and it wasn't what we expected.We were very productive and one thing that we discussed that Peter got bullied al ot and we gave suggestions in how if we were his friends how we could help him. One of us said to get help from someone that you trust. And others said that we should talk to him first to see what the problem is and then go and tell a trusted adult. Over all our book club went well. At the end of the period we assign up to what page we should read and assigned different jobs.

page 1 "In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world, or you can just jump off it. In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge."
 * Quotations: Amanda**

page 47 "The fire alarms were still ringing, and the safety sprinklers had created a running river in the hallway. Beneath the spray, two EMT's bent over a girl who had been shot in the right shoulder."

page 89 " The mystery of the rifle-the very thing that had sparked him to steal the key to the cabinet from his father's underwear drawer and show Josie-was no longer quite as compelling. Now that he'd seen it taken apart and put back together, he saw the firearm for what it was: a collection of fitted metal, the sum of its parts. A gun nothing, really, without a person behind it."

page 21. "Chaos was a constellation of students, running out of the students and trampling the injured. A boy holding a handmade sign in an upstairs window that read HELP US. Two girls hugging each other and sobbing. Chaos was blood melting pink on the snow; it was the drip of parents that turned into stream and then a ranging river, screaming out the names of their missing children. Chaos was a TV camera in your face, not enough ambulences, not enough officers, and no plan for how to react when the world as you knew it went to peices."

QUOTES: Marilin
 * QUESTIONS: Amanda**
 * Who is Alex Cormier? Josie's mom, who is the judge.
 * What was Josie stealing from her mom? She stole sleeping pills to commit suicide.
 * What does signal 1,000 mean? It means life or death
 * How many shooter were in the building? There was only one shooter.
 * How did Lacey and Alex meet? When Alex was knocked up, she went to Lacey's class.
 * Was the scene at school the worst thing that Patrick had seen? yes the worst
 * How did the medics identify the bodies? They wrote numbers on the kids heads in sharpie.
 * GROUP LEADER: ASHLEY

page 156 "it seemed as if Peter had been waiting all fall for this weekend. He had been reading up on the rifle his father was going to let him use-a Winchester Model 94 lever action 30-30 that had been his father's, before the purchase of the bolt-action Remington 721 30.06."

page 157 "Peter and his father walked softly through the woods, following tracks toward the swamp. Suddenly, his father stuck out his hand-- a signal to stop"

page 179 "She buried her face in her pillow. She didn't know what the hell was wrong with her. It was as if, after, there were two Josies- the little girl who kept hoping it might be a nightmare, might never have happened, and realist who still hurt so badly she lashed out at anyone who got too close."

QUESTION: Marilin 1. What changes did they make to the school? They had metal detectors and ID's. Every one was a lot more different, more scared and quiet. They had to wear uniforms.

2. What do you like most about the book so far? Marilin:When Peter goes hunting with his dad. Amanda:How they show how bad bullying is. Ashley: When Josie is watching the movie about her and Matt and all her friends.

3.Do you think Peter's dad taking him hunting made him more likely to be a school shooter? Yes, because he had experience with guns and he knew how to use them. He also had access to them so he had the opportunity.

4. Who is Josie? She is one of the main characters. She used to be Peter's best friend, but she became popular. He boyfriend, Matt, and her best friend, Courtney, were killed in the shooting.

5. Who is Patrick? He is the head cop assigned to the school shooting. He tried to figure out what happened that day.

6. How did Peter's parents react to their son being the shooter? Peter's dad, Lewis, tried to go on like everything was normal. His mom, Lacy,was at a loss, becuase she didn't know what to do. They thought they had failed as parents, since Peter's brother, Joey, had done drugs and gotten into a car crash that killed him.

7. Who was Natalie Zlenko? She was the leader of the gay/lesbien allience club. She got shot during the shooting but lived.

SUMMARY: Ashley The way Jodi Picoult writes is very intense. She includes a lot of dramatic passages that leave you wondering. She is very discriptive and she uses a lot of analogies, metaphors and similes. The way the author writes makes you think that you are actually there. You know exactly how the characters are feeling. Sometimes it is confusing because she uses such discriptive language and doesn't really say things straight-forward. This was the second week of the book group, so we almost halfway through the book. We all read and Marilin was the quote finder and questioner. We got some really good quotes from the sections we wrote. A couple of them were about Peter admired his father's gun collection, which led to the question of whether or not that influenced his decision to bring a gun to school. He had access and opportunity to use them, and he knew how to work them. We also talked about Josie, and how she was dealing with the shooting, in which her boyfriend, Matt, had been shot and killed. She used to be best friends with Peter when they were little, and that might've made him think twice about killing her. This group discussion was a little different from last week. Both Marilin and Amanda brought food, so we had something. We were a little more used to talking about the book, but we still got distracted a little bit. I think this was a good choice for our book group. The book is really interesting, and it's weird because you know that the same thing could happen at our school. It's a real life book, and it's happened before. School shootings really happen, and this book is explaining why the shooters do this. You begin to understand why Peter did this, and how it could've been prevented. GROUP LEADER: AMANDA

QUESTIONS: Ashley 1. What happened to Peter's dog? Peter's dog died when he was 12. It was the only pet he ever had and he'd had it all his life. 2. Why did Peter get fired from the copy store? Josie got really mad at Peter for embarassing her at school. She found him in the back by the dumpster starting the fire, she told her boss that it was his fault. 3. Why did the prosecutor want Judge Cormier to step off the case? She knew Judge Cormier's daughter, Josie, had been hurt during the shooting, and her boyfriend killed. She thought that would make her more emotional. Also, even though the prosecutor didn't know, Josie and Peter used to be best friends. 4. Who did Peter talk to? Peter talked to a college student,, who worked for The Times. She had been bullied in high school also and she said she knew how Peter felt. She wrote an article for a magazine about him and how bullied he was. 5. What happened when Peter and Josie were trapped in the elevator? When Peter and Josie were trapped in the elevator Josie told Peter that Matt had pushed her, causing her to hurt her leg. She told him that she didn't hate him and they kissed. 6. What happened to Peter's brother, Joey? Joey was killed by a drunk driver and his parents were devestated. Peter's mother learned that Joey had been involved with drugs, but she didn't tell anyone. Joey was the perfect child, something Peter could never live up to, and he was outcasted in his own home. 7. Where did Mr. McCabe find Peter? Mr. McCabe found Peter at a gay club. Peter was being bullied by another man and Mr. McCabe brought him home. Mr. McCabe admitted to Peter that he was gay, and asked him not to tell anyone. Peter was confused about his sexuality, but Mr. McCabe knew he was straight.

qoutations: Marilin
“Peter walked toward the window in the small room. A mottled Flush rose up his neck, as if memory could be burned into the flesh. pg 186

You’ve never gone down the street and had someone cross it just because you’re black. You’ve never had someone look down at you with disgust because you’re holding a baby and you forgot to put a wedding ring. You want to do something about it-take action, scream at them tell them they’re idiots-but you can’t” pg. 187

Lacy had always considered herself lucky to have somehow received a child who was not the cookie cutter American boy, one who was sensitive and emotional and so in tune with what other felt and thought” pg. 197

“josie wanted to tell him to go away; that she didn’t want to work with him again, much less be seen having a conversation with him. But something had happened during the months since peter had set that Dumster fire” pg 217

Today when they’d arrived at school, the television cameras were already waiting. You had to walk right through them to get to the front door.” Pg 260

GROUP SUMMARIZER: AMANDA. she wasn't here

QUOTES: Ashley "If you gave someone your heart and they died, did they take it with them? Did you spend the rest of forever with a hole inside you that couldn't be filled?"

"So much of the language of love was like that: you devoured someone with your eyes, you drank in the sight of them, you swallowed him whole. Love was a substance, broken down and beating through your bloodstream."

"When you don't fit in, you become super human. You can feel everyone else's eyes on you, stuck like Velcro. You can hear a whisper about you from a mile away. You can disappear, even when it looks like you're still standing right there. You can scream, and nobody hears a sound"

"Something still exists as long as there's someone around to remember it."

QUESTIONS: Marilin 1 Why was Judge Cormier taken off Peter's case? The defense attorney put Josie as a witness for Peter and she had to be taken down. 2. What was Judge Cormier's relationship to detective Patrick? The Judge was dating Patrick. 3. Where did Patrick find Josie? Patrick found Josie in the cemetary, talking to Matt's grave. She'd been going there almost every day in the summer, just to be with him. This shows how upset Josie was over Matt's death. 4. Who did Peter talk to that his attorney, Jordan, got mad about? Peter talked to a reporter for the Times. Jordan was mad because Peter wasn't supposed to speak to anybody else, and he wasn't supposed to be talking to reporters. 5. What did Jordan say was Peter's illness? Jordan said Peter had bullied-child syndrome. It was the same thing as battered-woman syndrome, only having to deal with children who had been bullied. Peter had been used to the constant threat of being bullied, that even when he wasn't, he still thought he was in danger. Eventually he snapped, and shooting people was how he was trying to defend himself against them. 6. Do you think what Peter did was right? No. he handled his situation totally wrong. But what the other kids at his school did was wrong too. They constantly bullied him and hurt him and made fun of him. They didn't just ignore him, they tried their best to make his life a constant hell. Peter shouldn't have picked up a gun, but they were the ones who drove him to it.

Summary: Amanda This was our fourth group meeting. During this meeting we discussed the book and what we thought about the pages we read. Marilin did the questions and Ashley did quotes. We discussed how we felt about the quotes and for each question we gave detailed answers. We put the answers that we thought was best. We all seem to like the book and Jodi Picolout's writing style. We are getting a lot out of getting together and discussing what we think about the book. This book has a good plot. THe theme that Jodi Picoult seems to be talking about is bullying in schools. She informs people of the disasterous effects that bullying can have on some children, and not just the ones being bullied. If the kids hadn't bullied and teased him so much, then he might've not brought that gun to school. So many things would've been different, and a lot less people would've been hurt

QUESTIONS: Ashley

1. Was Peter acquitted? No. Peter was convicted of eight first-degree murders and two second-degree murders. He was going to be in jail for the rest of his life. 2. What did Josie say at the trial? Josie admitted to shooting Matt. She said that her and Matt had run into the locker room to get away from Peter, but they ended up locking themselves in. When Peter dropped his bag, a gun fell out, and Jose picked it up. She shot at Peter, but it ricoshayed and hit Matt in the stomach, flying out the window. Peter shot Matt in the head to kill him instantaneously instead of having him be in pain. He promised Josie he'd never tell. 3. What happened to Josie after the trial? Josie was charged with accessory to second-degree murder accepted a plea of manslaughter. She spent five years in a Woman's jail. 4. What did Peter do in his cell? Peter stuffed a sock deep into his mouth and fell asleep. It had become hard to breathe, so we don't know if he tried to commit suicide. I think he did, but I'm not sure if he succeeded. 5. What was different with the school? The school was different because they had open cubbies to see everything that was there. They had metal detectors and wore IDs at all times. Not only was the school different, but the students and teachers were also. They were more reserved and careful, they still remembered what had happened. 6. What happened to Judge Cormier and Patrick? Judge Cormier and Patrick stayed together. At the end of the book they were going to have a baby. Josie was off in prison, and it was just them and their child. Judge Cormier because a defense attorney again, because she couldn't be indifferent in many of the cases she would have to judge. QUOTES; amanda was absent Summary: Marilin

During our last meeting we discussed the ending of the book. Our group said if it we liked or disliked the ending. We all said that we would recommend it because it talked about school bullying. This topic hasn’t been discussed in many others books and we agreed that this book should be considered in for the should curriculum because it discusses school bullying and school shooting and the consequences that would happen if student did it. This book talks about that in 19 minutes you can do many thing but in 19 minutes you can get revenge and that’s want happened the student got revenge. After we discussed all of that. Ashley read her questions and I answered them. Unfortunately Amanda wasn’t here so we didn’t do the quotes.