Nineteen+Minutes+By+Olivia+L

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** Journal 1 ** ** Pgs. 0-62 **

March 6 2007 was thought to be a normal day. Alex Cormier, Josie’s mom had been running late for her new job for the past few weeks now. She had just been appointed to the Supreme Court. As for Josie, all she had to worry about today was her chemistry test or so she thought. While Alex was sitting in court the bailiff had given her a note and immediately after she read what was on it, she adjourned court. “Shots fired at Sterling High” is what the note had said. That’s means that Alex’s daughter Josie was in danger. Her only daughter that we find out earlier in the book she didn’t want at first. The book starts with about 10 pages about this day, and then it flashes back 17 years. These are the days when Josie was still in her mother, Alex’s womb. We find out that Logan, one of Alex’s college professors is the father of the baby. When she told Logan the happy news about her pregnancy, he told her to get an abortion, so she scheduled in appointment. Unfortunately she missed it because Alex had forgotten to write the date down in her calendar. She reschuled and this time, she just didn’t want to go. Later Alex starts taking birthing classes at a local hospital where Lacy works. Lacy is a birthing doctor/nurse and a new mom herself. When Alex had started these classes she made it clear that she was giving her baby up for adoption. Lacy later convinces Alex to keep the baby. Lacy and Alex end up spending a lot of time together and end up becoming good friends. Then after this chapter of the book we flash back to about an hour after the shooting. 10 confirmed dead, and no idea about how many our injured. Our EMT shares this with our top cop named Patrick. Patrick was the one who, went against his Chiefs rule, and broke into the school to free the students and stop the shooter. We soon find out that Peter, Lacy’s son is the shooter! He gets caught and is put into custody. We now know that Matt is one of the dead. Matt was Josie’s boyfriend, the one who has kept her of the cliff of suicide. At first Patrick thinks Josie is dead to when he finds her bleeding from the temple right next to Matt’s blood trodden body. She then whispers for help and gets rushed off to an emergency room, where Alex finally meets up with her. When Josie awakes in the hospital bed, she asks, “Where am I?” Josie has no recognition up to the point when her boyfriend picked her up for school that morning. Lacy had been trying to help her son by throwing out everything in his room, but when she heard the door bell ring, and answered, over 15 police officers had walked in and started searching for evidence against Peter. They had a search warrant and from there we knew that Peter was screwed. Lacy calls an attorney who agrees to take his case, and that’s where we end.

So far, I think this book is going to be some what of a drag. Every paragraph you read, switches to another character and it gets really frustrating because your trying to put a story together in your head and it confuses you. It is a really great book so far though. The plot seems interesting enough. I can’t wait to read some more.

-What is the relation between the lawyer and Lacy? How does she know him? -What is Peters reason behind the shooting? -What did the students do to Peter in order to be shot? -Why is there a picture of two people holding hands on the cover of this book? -What happened to Peter other brother and father? : Lacy’s first born and husband? :[|School Shootings]

** Journal 2 ** ** Pgs. 63-195 **

Lacy one morning wakes up and needs milk for her coffee. She didn’t want to leave her house, but she did anyways. First she had to deal with the media banging and taping on her car while she backed down the driveway. Next she has to loose the news reporters that were following her on the highway. She ended up at a gas station to fill her car and buy the milk. When she brought it to the counter she noticed a small jar that read, “Victims of Sterling High.” She ended up dumping all the money she could find in her purse into that small jar and left without the milk. Jordan had his car tires slashed. It worried him because the trial hadn’t even started yet. It made him question himself what the town people might do to him, or worse his family for representing a confused/and troubled some boy. Mount Lebanon was the new location for Sterling High School. It was an elementary school with the rules of a jailhouse. All doors closed and locked during the day except the front door. You had to wear your student ID 24-7 around your neck with a neckband/necklace. Alex was always dealing with Josie’s mood swings. Their relationship has gotten stronger, but the slightest argument sends it flying back to no-mans land. Peter was not happy that his brother Joey had died, but he was glad he was gone for good. Joey was the one who started Peters bullying. He would tell kids that Peter was adopted and that his really mother was a dirty crack whore. The thing was that it wasn’t only verbal bullying, it was physical too. Peter had agreed to go along with his lawyer yet he believed that everything his lawyer did was wrong. He signed a form that ended up waving his probable cause hearing. Yvette Harvey shot herself in a gun store because the same guns from that store were the same guns that killed her daughter at the Sterling Highs Shooting. Her only daughter had special needs, yet didn’t even know Peter, the mom hadclaimed, was shot. Peter just admitted to his lawyer the fact that he didn’t want to kill any one else, they just got in the way.

I can’t wait to see what happens next. I’m very curious for Peters trail. Also I’m scared for Jordan and his family, he has now been yelled at in public, someone vandalized his car, and that the trail hasn’t even started yet. As for Alex, I hope she sits on this case because she needs to be there for her daughter.

-What are the secrets behind Joey’s death? -Why does Lewis not seem to care for his son? -Who will be next with this ripple effect of death? -Where is Peter going to end up? -Why is Peter’s mom so paranoid? :[|Columbine] Shooting

** Journal 3 ** ** Pgs. 196-331 **

This section starts out one year before the actual shooting happened. We start off with the story about Dozer. Dozer was Houghtons pet dog. He is taken to the vet to be put down and Lacy drags the entire family in also. After Dozer is put down, Lacy realizes that she was the only one that truly cared for Dozer. In school whenever Peter had to go to the bathroom, he never used a urinal, he always used a stall. He did this so he could read what the walls had said. One writing in the door stuck with Peter the most, “Trey Walkins is a faggot” He wondered if Trey would ever read the stalls to. While using the restroom a pair of jocks walk in. They start talking. At one point, one says you look like a total faggot. The other responds with, “Yah, I know! I look like Peter Houghton.” Peter later found out that it was Joey, his older brother that said this about him. Peter had been working at a photocopying store for a months now. Mr. Carrgrew had hired a new employ to work with Peter. He hired Josie. This was awkward at the start because Peter and Josi hadn’t talked for a few years now. They end up befriending each other again, but only at work. One day Peter lights the trash bin on fire and is about to walk in until Josie saves him. He said that he knew she liked him! Josie told on him to Mr. Carrgrew, and got him fired. He blames her, and ignores her for a good while afterwards. Lewis, Peters father, taught at a University. His lectures would always be based on a scale of happiness based off of worldly events. While Matt and Josie where dating they had a very PDA relationship. P.D.A. = Public Display of Affection. It was always kissing in the halls, holding hands, and or things. One day while Josie was waiting for Matt by the flagpole she felt a tap on her shoulder. She thought this was odd because usually Matt would appear by kissing her on the cheek or grabbing her waist from behind. As she turned, it was Peter standing there. They hadn’t even talked for more then a few minutes when Matt had pounded Peter to the floor. Peter just wanted his job back at the photocopying store, but Josie said no as she walked away with Matt pulling her to his car. Peter decides to end up creating a video game. He decides that a school shooting would be a cool situation, kind of like “Revenge of The Nerds.” He searched in his yearbook for character ideas. He circles the pictures of Drew Girard, Matt Royston, John Eberhard, and Josie Comier as the evil characters. Josie and Matts relationship is getting more about love and lust instead of normal teenage lovers. They had sex for the first time and after that, that’s all their relationship was. Matt was a very stubborn teenager. He unfortunately took out a lot of his anger on Josie. The first time he hurt Josie, he grabbed her wrists so hard it left marks, while dragging her out of a friend’s house. He was upset because he didn’t like sharing Josie with others. Right there was where he had admitted, for that first time that he loved Josie. Peter had snuck into to a male gay club with a fake ID. He was trying to figure out who he was with his sexuality, so he thought this was his best choice. An older man was hitting on Peter. His name was Kurt and he thought to make it easier, he gave Peter drugs. He was trying to take Peter home, until Peter’s math teacher Mr. McCabe helps Peter get out of his situation. He drives Peter home and offers him help or guidance if he ever feels to question himself. This makes Peter hate him because he was so against gays; he just had to make sure he wasn’t one. Mr. McCabe was one of the lives lost in the school shooting. Courtney never really accepted Josie in her “group.” She was jealous that Josie was dating Matt and was always trying to find a way to break them up. One day while Peter was working his new job as an assistant he gets stuck in an elevator with the crippled Josie. They play truth or dare. Peter finds out that the reason Josie’s leg is broken was because Matt pushed her, and beat her. Peter then ends up getting kissed by Josie through his dare. It made him happy because he realized that he didn’t like men, he just like this one girl. Then we skip to one month after the shooting. Dianna is the state attorney that will be trying Peter in this case. Peter feels upset with Jordan because Jordan won’t listen to him because if he knows the full story he won’t be able to lie in court. Lacy comes to visit Peter in jail. She says she’s sorry, but he doesn’t care because he feels that she is only their for her own self gratification and he tells this to her. Alex ends up dropping the case because there’s to many ties to her daughter that she can’t bare it. She passes the case to Judge Wagner. Patrick and Alex keep communicating and are slowing falling into a relationship.

This book has gotten so intense since the beginning. The plot has so many characters that I’ve made a tree of characters just to follow sometimes. The thoughts and feelings of the characters are starting to get to me and really stick with me. I think that’s exactly what Jodi Picoult wanted. It makes you think about the effects of school bullying in everyday life. It makes you think about your actions before you commit them. It makes you feel for the victims.

-What is going to happen with Patrick and Alex’s relationship? -Why does Lewis hate his son so much? Even before the shooting? -What was Mr. Wheatherhalls reaction to Peter taking his gun and shooting up the school with it? -Why do I feel like Josie is lying about her witness statement? -Who got the email spammed by Courtney and Drew? :[|10 Myths about School Shootings]

** Journal 4 ** ** Pgs. 332-455 !SPOILER ALERT! **

Alex has been having Patrick stay over a lot more. There relationship has expanded so much since Alex dropped the case that they’ve been dating for about four months now. Josie has been going to the cemetery to visit Matt everyday instead of taking math summer school like her mother thought she was doing. Patrick had followed her one day and realized and saw this event-taking place. He apporachered her about it and they talked. He told her that he would be here for her, and that it was almost over. Drew gets interrogated in court. After sitting on the stand for about an hour, Drew finally cracks and admits to the bullying charges of him against Peter. Lacy remembers the last time she told Peter she hated him. It was the first and only time, but she’s held it against herself ever since. Jordan has called Josie as a witness to the stand. She doesn’t want to, but she has no choice. The truth is ripped out of her and she eventually shares that she knows more then she told in her police statement. They bring in the video game that Peter created, into court, “Hide n’ Shriek.” Drew is questioned like no other. He was said to be one of Peter’s only friend. He played “Hide n’ Shriek” as a trail run for Peter to see how the game went. He said he wish he could have asked Peter about it or told somebody, but at the same time he was jealous of Peter. He was kind of upset that he didn’t get to do anything about the bullying that he, Peter, and many other students were going through too. We flash back to six thirty am the day of Peters shooting. The first thing Peter did when he woke up was checking his email. He was looking for comments and emails from people who had tried out his latest video game creation, but he accidentally pulls up the file about his past love letter emailed to Josie. All he can hear is there laughter when he remembers the day Matt pants-ed him. In court Patrick talks about Gun A and Gun B while on the stand. Dr. King ends up diagnosing Peter with PTSD. It is a psychotic disorder that Peter was dealing with that neither Peter nor his family could have known about. He talks about the letter being the instigator of that day making the rest of the day a halogen to him. He claims that Peter had no control over himself until he got to the questioning room where he started to break down and cry and ask for his mom. One of the girls that Peter shot wrote to him. This time it was a true letter, not like the fake one from a reporter before. The last line in her letter said, “I would have like to be your friend. Sincerely, Angela Phlug.” Peter stayed up all night in his cell until he had it memorized. Peter is called to the stand and he tells the truth. “When I did it in the game, I won. The thing is, is that the game isn’t over yet.” We go to ten-sixteen the day of the shooting. Matt was telling Josie to get down and hide. Matt told Josie to shoot and was yelling awful stuff to her. Peter told him not to talk like that to her. Matt was swearing and cursing. Josie had fired the gun, and then she realized that she shot Matt. He was on the floor gripping for life, Josie told Peter to do something. Peter shot him in the head to get him out of his misery. Then the book goes back to five months after. Josie tells the truth on the stand. She admits that, “I hated myself for loving him, but if I wasn’t with him I wasn’t anyone anymore.” We flash forward for the last time to March 6 2008, a year after the shooting. Today is the first memorial for Sterling High School. We find out that Alex and Patrick are there together while Alex is pregnant. Alex was upset because her daughter Josie would be in jail for the next 4 years, she was hoping that her new baby would rescue them all. She waited until ten-nineteen like the rest of the students had to wait on March 6 2007.

Wow! That’s just about all I can say when I think about his book. The plot was so twisted that I kept making u-turns in order to follow. Every character has a real meaning and a real story to share. There’s not one mistake in this plot. The only thing that I wish Jodi Picoult might have done was limit the story to only one characters side. There might have been a lot less in the book, which might of made it more enjoyable to read, but besides that it was a very long book. I love reading. Whether it’s long or short, comedy or dramatic, play or musical, its usually entertaining. By the end of this project though, this book got to be somewhat of a drag. It became more about the assignment then actually getting to enjoy the story.

-What is PTSD? -Why did Jodi Picoult write this story? -What other books have Jodi Picoult written? -Did Alex and Patrick ever marry? -How is Alex's unborn child going to grow up inside such a screwed up family? :[|Definition and Causes] of youth violence.

What is bullying? Who has the right to decide how you get to be treated? Stand up, and don't let anyone tear you down. [|Need Answers to Questions?]