Title: Small Great Things       

Author: Jodi Picoult  

Genre: Contemporary Fiction    

Publisher: Ballantine Books  

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 480

Rating: 5/5 stars

Synopsis (Goodreads):

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.

Review:

This book was so amazing! It dealt with so many important issues and really captivated me throughout the whole story!

Ruth is a labour and delivery nurse and has been for 20 years. She works hard to support her son, and wants to give him a good life after her husband died. One day she goes into a patient’s room but is then later told she can’t take care of that patient anymore because she is black and the patient is a white supremacist. But later when that baby goes into cardiac arrest, Ruth must act, even though she was told not to touch the baby. The baby dies and Ruth is blamed for the whole thing! Which is crazy!

The book really highlights the issue of racism in the United States. The lawyer representing Ruth, Kennedy, says that using race in the court won’t be justified. Kennedy considers herself to not be a racist person, but the fact that she is blinded by her own privilege shows she’s part of the problem. I loved that message!

The other perspective in the book comes from Turk, the white supremacist father, and it made me so uncomfortable reading his point of view. But really it shows how much anger is in the poor guy to make him feel that way!

The book made me feel all kinds of feels, and I loved how attached I got to Ruth and her cause and her story! I highly recommend this book!

Happy reading!