Small Great Things Review

Small Great Things

Author: Jodi Picoult

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

Synopsis:

    When Turk and Brittany Baur go into the hospital to have their first baby, the labor and delivery nurse they are assigned is Ruth. However, the Baurs are white supremacists and do not want Ruth, who is African American, to care for their baby (who they name Davis).

    When little Davis Baur goes into cardiac arrest, Ruth is the only nurse in the room. She hesitates before performing CPR, not sure if she should go against the wishes of the family and perform CPR, or obey orders and let Davis be. As a result, she is charged with murdering the baby. 

    Kennedy McQuarrie is a defense lawyer and assigned to Ruth's case. Can Ruth be proved innocent -- or will she be convicted of murdering a baby?

    Told in three perspectives (Ruth, Turk and Kennedy), Small Great Things is a novel about racism and prejudice.

My thoughts:

    This book was an eye-opener. Not because I learned a lot about babies and their delivery (although I certainly did), but because I learned a lot about racism. I think most people think racism comes only from people like Turk (who is so far past racist I'm not even sure if I should call him that). But in the book it is illustrated that you don't have to be a white supremacist to be racist. White people often get privileges simply because of their race -- and sometimes people do it unconsciously. There is one part in the book where Ruth and Kennedy go shopping together and Kennedy is astounded how much attention the employees pay to Ruth: they're always following her and asking if she needs help, and watching to make sure she doesn't shoplift, and when she is leaving the store one of the employees checks her receipt and bags to make sure she didn't shoplift. When Kennedy takes out her receipt too, that same employee says, "You're fine." Kennedy knows this is because she is white.

    Overall, I really enjoyed Small Great Things! It's an adult book, but I think teens could read it too (or possibly younger readers but there is swearing and mature themes discussed).

    Rating: 5 out of 5 stars!