Patty Pick for 2/16/17 is "small great things" by Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult has written some of the most powerful and memorable books that I have read. "My Sister's Keeper" and "The Pact" to name a few, but I have not missed many. Her new book, "small great things" falls in as another one of my favorites. It leaves you with a good feeling which I like in my endings, but along the way you will wonder what is going to happen to these characters. 

This is definitely an American story with White Supremacists, racism and our American history present in every word. This is also a universal story in the way it handles the delicate effects of race on our society. This is not a knock-you-on-the-head type of story, it will sneak up on you before you know it. You will be invested and reading away to find out what happens to Ruth Jefferson. Don't you like the play on names with this character? She is a labor and delivery nurse with a 20-year history of experience under her belt. She intersects with a couple who gave birth to their baby boy the night before. What she doesn't know if that the baby is sick and that the couple are White supremacists. 

This story take off after this introduction at a breakneck speed toward a collision between them all. We can walk in Ruth's shoes but we will also walk in the father's shoes. We will see how he grew up and how he got to become the person he is today. Turk and Brit are the parents of this sick infant who passed away on Ruth's shift. The way Jodi Picoult brings these characters powerfully to life will put you in their shoes in a way that you don't get to do very often. We also meet the public defender who takes Ruth's case on and realizes she doesn't look at the world the same way Ruth does.

Kennedy McQuarrie is drawn into the desperate situation facing Ruth and her son, Edison. She realizes that this case will have a long range effect of her life and her career. But she doesn't realize that it will be in ways she did not foresee. Jodi Picoult has a unique and special way of presenting a story without preaching, just presenting one character's perspective and the other. You get to live in each character's mind as the book advances and it is eye-opening. This book receives 5 stars in my book.  

Patty Pick for 1/29/15 is THE STORYTELLER by Jodi Picoult

As you can probably tell by now, Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors. The stories she writes just get to me. I love the way she pulls you along from each characters point of view. And she always has a twist, I didn't see coming most of the time. 

In The Storyteller, Sage Singer is a baker in a local cafe, making wonderful breads that her grandmother taught to her. Her face has been scarred from a terrible accident and she has become a loner, especially after her mother died. She wears her scars on the outside and inside. 

She befriends an elderly customer, Joseph Weber, who frequents the bakery to enjoy her bread and treats her with kindness. As they grow closer, he confides his life story. He was a Nazi SS officer and served at Auschwitz. How Sage deals with this shock and the unbelievable question he asks of her, will keep you riveted until the very end of the book. And of course there is the twist you won't see coming! 
When Jodi Picoult publishes a book, read it!

The Patty Pick for 1/8/15 is "leaving time" by Jodi Picoult

Jodi PIcoult has written another amazing book! When you finish "leaving time" you will know more about elephants that you could ever imagine. I did not know that elephants were so fascinating. After finishing the book, I immediately looked up the information on the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee, www.elephants.com, and checked out the live elephant cams. Please do the same after you finish this book, Jodi Picoult really brings the elephants and characters to life for us. I did not realize so many of the fascinating elephant facts that Jodi Picoult shares with us. 

The main character, Jenna, is searching for her mother. Alice disappeared 10 years earlier  

when Jenna was a three-year-old toddler. A terrible accident at the elephant sanctuary that her parents run has lead to the death of one of the workers. Jenna's mother, Alice, is found with a head injury and taken to the hospital. Before she can be questioned she disappeared and has not been seen since.

Jenna's father, Thomas, is in a psychiatric hospital and can offer no clues to what happened that fateful night. Jenna hires a disgraced psychic, Serenity, and an alcoholic private investigator, Virgil ,to help her find her mom. As they work togther to follow the clues, the events of that night become more clear. This is a book you will want to read every word as quickly as possible but you do not want to end! You will need to read it for yourself to find out if Jenna finds her mother.