Small Great Things

This is an amazing, important book that must have taken Jodi a lot of time to research. It touches on many of today’s problems—racism, prejudice, poverty, justice, privilege, etc.

It’s a fast-paced read and, at times, had me on the edge of my seat. In the audio version, several narrators read the chapters of the well-fleshed-out, believable characters.

Because I was leading the book club meeting, I listened to the audio concurrently with the book—both highly recommended!

This is a fictional novel about the real, continuing moral dilemma of racism and prejudice in the United States and other countries.

It is based on actual events. A black woman who was a capable registered nurse worked many years in the pediatric ward of a hospital. As is typical of hospital pediatric wards, many things were happening at the same time. She was not supposed to attend the birth of a child but happened to be the only one available

I’ve read many non-fiction books on race that explain how whites can become good allies to “Black Lives Matter” movements, but these books leave so much unsaid.

I felt Picoult’s novel succeeded much better in laying out the sensitivities of race relations. Her characters show where different sides are coming from, without demonizing them. The plot is simple—a black nurse is accused of killing the newborn son of a white supremacist couple and a white lawyer defends the nurse in court. The lawyer believes she is not a racist but finds she really doesn’t understand all the subtleties.

I suspect… show more.

This book has so much to teach us about race and misconceptions. Faced with the decision of intervening to save a newborn baby’s life and the orders she’s been given not to touch the child of white supremacists, a NICU nurse, Ruth, hesitates for a moment then provides care. Her hesitation causes her to be charged with a serious crime. She is assigned a white public defender who wants to plead out and keep race out of the equation, but Ruth stands her ground. The women have to learn to trust each other and to find common ground. This is… show more.