Nineteen Minutes

Do you ever get near the end of a very favored book and start slowing down so that you can savor the last chapter? That is where I am with the book, "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult. Picoult is one of my favorite authors and in this story she writes about a school shooting in the fictional town of Sterling, New Hampshire. The book tells the story of Peter, the school shooter, and the other kids at his school who bully him from the first day of kindergarten until the day he comes into school with a gun and starts shooting. I am listening to this book on CD. Sometimes I sit in the garage after I get home to finish the chapter I have about a half hour left to listen and I'm just on the edge of my seat. When the book reader says a particularly moving line, I nod my head in agreement. Last week I read a story on the BBC website about bullies and the connection between students who bully and students who have ADHD. Many kids who bully do have ADHD. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Are they more innocent because they don't pay attention long enough to see the soul they are crushing? I am proud to say that both of my offspring are not the bullying type. In fact, they both seem to go out of their way to stick up for the underdog. I don't take all the credit for that. These offspring both make good choices. In one of their high school yearbooks, another student wrote that if it wasn't for them, they wouldn't have fit into any group at school. Aw, that just made my heart swell to read it.