Picoult, Jodi. small great things. New York: Ballantine Books, 2016.

Important and timely, Ruth’s story is also difficult and complex. Picoult renders it well. Ruth, a 30 year labor and delivery veteran, comes up against her most significant struggle with the birth of Davis Bauer. In spite of living her whole life trying to fit in - to be accepted in the same way as a black woman as the those who are white. She goes to the right schools; lives in the right neighborhood; and pushes her son to succeed at all levels. Her sister accuses her of denying reality and lives an entirely different kind of live, embracing an altogether different culture. All it takes is one white supremacist parent and one post it note indicating that African American personnel were not permitted to take care of his son. One emergency and one death results in one lost medical license and one murder charge. Ruth’s perception of the world is forever changed.

I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that my perceptions were radically altered through the reading of this novel as well. Picoult does an excellent job of portraying all sides of the issue. No one develops characters like she does. She writes chapters in a variety of points of view...including Turk, Ruth, and Ruth’s lawyer, Kennedy. She could have easily done a caricature of a white supremacist. But she creates a back story and a rounded person. I just wanted to hate Turk, but his grief stunned me into sadness. I related to Kennedy the most. I didn’t consider myself a racist and would have said I didn’t see color. Clearly, at many levels, I needed to learn the lessons that she learns over the course of the novel. Ruth’s journey is also sensitively portrayed. When she finds her voice, so powerful! Picoult is ambitious here, but successful for this reader. Small great things is so important for our time - a must read.

Like me my students are already Picoult fans. I am happy to challenge them with a novel that will ask them to rethink how they perceive race in our world. More appropriate for my mature readers, I look forward to the discussion this novel engenders.