Nineteen Minutes (2007)

EW PICK

Jodi Picoult is a rare writer who delivers, book after book, a winning combination of the literary and the commercial. Like many of her novels, Nineteen Minutes addresses a hot topic: school shootings. Nothing much happens in Sterling, N.H., until the day Peter Houghton brings a gun to his high school and systematically blows people away — 10 in all. Classmate Josie Cormier witnessed the rampage, but can't remember what she saw; her mom, Alex, is in a tricky spot, since she's the superior court judge who will preside over Peter's trial. No reader can possibly foresee the book's stunning denouement. This is vintage Picoult, expertly crafted, thought-provoking, and compelling. A