I have been reading. A lot. However, I have not been consistent with blogging. My apologies.
My favorite book of recent is called The Pact by Jodi Picoult. I devoured this book in a matter of days. The main premise of the story is two families whose children, Emily and Christopher, have grown up intertwined. The Gold and Hart families are more than neighbors, they are best friends. When both sets of parents get phone calls to head to the local hospital, they are devastated to find that Emily is dead and Chris is covered in her blood. While Chris claims that Emily committed suicide, the evidence eventually points to him since he was the only other person present at the time. Chris is arrested and going to trial for the deliberate murder of Emily Gold. The book goes back and forth between present day and flashbacks of different time periods in the kids' lives, including memories of them growing up and glimpses of events from the night of Emily's death.
There are so many things that made this book a page-turner. First, the reader really didn't know if it was a suicide or a murder. Details were cleverly revealed throughout the book to let us know if Chris is innocent or guilty. The intrigue and suspense had me staying up late to read long after my kids were in bed and waking up early to figure out how things ended.
Secondly, Picoult does an excellent job of creating believable characters and relationships. The way Emily and Chris are described made me feel like they were genuinely two teenagers in love. I was heartbroken for Chris and their families. A good writer can do that - make a reader feel connected and empathetic for the characters in her story.
I've always loved Jodi Picoult books and usually say she is my favorite author when asked. I've had numerous students try some of her books and like them as well. If you like contemporary, realistic fiction with controversial plots, she is a good author to check out. On another note, when I was searching for the book cover image, I found a link showing that this book was made into a TV movie. I may have to search Netflix for it!
