Jodi Picoult, bestselling author ofMy Sister's KeeperandThe TenthCircle, pens her most riveting book yet, with a startling and poignant storyabout the devastating aftermath of a small-town tragedy. Sterling is an ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens--until theday its complacency is shattered by an act of violence. Josie Cormier, thedaughter of the judge sitting on the case, should be the state's best witness,but she can't remember what happened before her very own eyes--or can she? Asthe trial progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult communitybegin to show--destroying the closest of friendships and families.NineteenMinutesasks what it means to be different in our society, who has the rightto judge someone else, and whether anyone is ever really who they seem to be.