Small Great Things

Small Great Things (Jodi Picoult, 2016) 

How I stumbled upon it: On all the bestseller lists + front tables of bookstores this spring!

What it's about: Ruth Jefferson is a labor + delivery nurse who is reassigned from a family who just gave birth because she is black, and they are white supremacists who don’t want her touching their baby. When the baby goes into distress and Ruth is the only one in the nursery, she is put in a terribly difficult position - to help or to stay away per orders. When the baby doesn’t make it, despite medical intervention, Ruth is charged with murder. Weaving together her story with that of the baby’s father, Turk, and Kennedy, the young public defender, this book will keep you engaged from the first page.

What I thought: One day. I read the whole thing in a single day and was pretty enthralled the entire time. This book is great because it reads like light fiction (in writing style) but is anything but light in content. The truth is, if Ruth had been white, none of this would have happened, and the more you read the more you are faced with the truth about the society we live in. These issues are tackled truthfully + gracefully and it was honest + smart + well written and I highly recommend!

You can get it here.