It took me a while to even start reading this book. I'm not certain why, I've had to think hard before posting a review. I read this book in two days but it sure stirred up a lot of emotions. A professional, compassionate, black nurse named Ruth is accused of killing a 3 day old baby of a white supremacist couple. The trial follows.

Even though it was fast reading, it was a hard read. I am aware that these vile hate groups live among us but reading how they think and how they speak about other human beings is jarring. On the other side of the coin is Ruth. Being a white woman myself, I understood what Ruth's attorney wanted to do and why she wanted to do it. However, by the end of the book I could physically feel Ruth's pain.

I realize that this is based on actual people the author met but the ending didn't ring true to me. How does one just turn off hate?

Great characters! And a very absorbing book about some of the thorniest dilemmas of our times- justice, prejudice, race, privilege, and how to be compassionate in our world.

Jodi Picoult writes a very thought provoking story about racism in modern America. The reader sees several different perspectives-skinhead, Afro-American nurse, and her white lawyer. When Turk and Brittany's baby dies, Ruth is blamed by the parents. But is she to blame? Is there anything she could have done to save their baby? Are they ultimately responsible for the death of their baby due to their prejudice? There is no easy, pleasant conclusion to the tale, rather a destination that requires the reader to process several viewpoints, prejudices, and the fact that truth and "the right thing to do" aren't always the winners in life. This book stayed with me long after I finished the last page.

Jodi Picoult did a wonderful job pulling in the complexities of racial bias and what lengths we will go to protect innocent life. I was sad at how well she captured the white supremacist, making him seem both human and absolutely insane. I wish that she had done as well with his wife. Overall, I wish that the story had ended in the courtroom. The epilogue section was too kind, in my opinion, to the white supremacist, who did little to be redeemed, and absolutely unkind to his wife, who wasn't written with enough character flaws to end that way. Ruth, if anything, deserved to be happy.

Not my favorite Jodi Picoult novel, although brought up good issues. Skimmed through a lot of the book. Could not connect with the characters as usual with her novels.

This was SUCH an amazing read. I love that this book discussed white privilege and relevant societal issues in such a way that the reader could understand the point and not feel defensive about their own privilege. I have recommended this to many friends and chose it for my book club as well. I have a copy at school and have told numerous students and teachers about it. I wish this was a book every student read during their high school years. I will continue to promote it in my classroom.

Great novelists are not only marked by the ability to tell a story that draws us into the world they want to portray but by the ability to build that world to illicit such intense emotion from the reader that it almost feels as though it's happening to you. Jodi Picoult, the master that she is, takes the reader to that level of engagement in Small Great Things. As Ruth Jefferson's life spirals out of control the reader is gripped by feelings of utter helplessness. This hardworking, honest woman has built a life for herself and her son but all that is falling apart. A truly intense, at times gut wrenching read that will draw readers in and hold them in its intense grip until the very last page.

What would I do if I was confronted with a white supremacist? And what if I was black? I don't know, and I think that is the point of the book. We all have our degrees of treating people differently, even if deep down we want equity, which, by the way, was such a poignant phrase. Equality is not the same as equity.
So, Ruth is an excellent labor and delivery nurse. She has been working for 20 years and is known for quality work. Enter Turk and Brit, the proud parents of their first son. They, however, are racists, and proud of it. They ask to be reassigned a different non-African American nurse, and the supervisor agrees (what's up with that? I wish there was more about her. Anyway, as luck or plot would have it, Ruth is in a pickle since she is watching the baby because of lack of staff, and the baby dies. Should Ruth have helped? Should she have obeyed the wishes of her supervisor and parents? Now, enter Kennedy, her defender, white knight, who claims she never sees color. All three parties learn a little more about themselves during the trial, and the reader should, too.
So, why only 4 stars? The twist at the end. Too contrived.

I really don't know what to say on this book. Was it my kind of book? Sure in a way it should be everyone's kind of book but in other cases not so much. The author brings you a riveting story of two different point of views and you can basically take it anyway you read it though the author makes some amazing point it's the reader that has to take away what he or she can from this book.

Small Great Things was a difficult book to read. You were pretty sure of the outcome, and it made you think of what your own reaction would have been in the same situation. Ruth was always taught to work hard and she would achieve success and recognition. She was the best labor nurse and parent she could be, so when she was accused of causing a baby's death, and put on leave- and no one stood up for her, she began tp question everything and everyone in her life. The parents of the dead baby, Turk and Brittany Bauer, were white supremacists, Ruth black. Her lawyer was the Public Defender, Kennedy was white and believed herself to be totally without prejudice.. They all learned the mistake of judging someone by their skin color alone, and their lives were totally altered by what was uncovered during the trial

I gave it 5 stars on goodreads

This is a great book that truly makes readers think. It is a page turner, simply because Picoult uses language that fully immerses you in the lives of the characters. Very timely and one that will leave its mark on me for many years to come.

This book has to be one of this author's best books. It deal with racism, that still goes on and shouldn't. A parent's newborn baby dies, The parent's are white supremists. The nurse is a person of color. The parent's forbid her tot ouch their son. But because of circumstances the next day she is left alone with the baby. The baby is sick and can't breath and the nurse does what she can but is blamed for his death. As the trial starts and during it then you find out so much about all of their lives. The end will shock you.

I absolutely loved this book, Jodi Picoult never lets me down. This book however, deals with a really tough topic. I feel like this book really makes you think about the racism issues that are still happening today.

This book was heart wrenching, I felt for Ruth, she was stuck in one sticky situation, damned if you do and damned if you don't. There were parts in this book that made me so angry and other parts where I was "hell yeah you go girl, you stand up for your right"!

This is one of my top books I have read in 2017!!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House - Ballantine Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this! The really ironic thing is that I was educated @ SUNY Plattsburgh and now live in CT!

Anne was happy to recommend this book on episode 72 of What Should I Read Next.

Jodi Picoult has never shied away from writing about difficult or controversial topics and proves that case with her latest novel, Small Great Things.

This is the story of Ruth, a labor and delivery nurse of twenty years and happens to be African American, who is removed from the case of one of her newborns as requested by the child's father, Turk, a white supremacist. After a medical procedure, the child goes into cardiac arrest and because the L&D ward is short-staffed, Ruth is the only nurse available to assist him. Sadly, the infant does not survive and because Ruth was the nurse present during his final moments, even though she attempted to revive the child, the parents accuse her of murder and press charges.

The novel is told from the perspectives of three main characters, Ruth, Turk and Ruth's attorney, Kennedy. We follow the current lives of each while bits of their back stories are woven in. We watch as Ruth loses her nursing license, then her job and worries about caring for her teenaged son and taking care of their needs while facing a murder charge. We see Turk and his wife, Brittany, grieving the loss of their son, becoming angry and struggling with their racial prejudices. We follow Kennedy as she works her first murder case and struggles with her own misconceptions on what it means to be a black person in America.

The novel is very well written and moves along quickly. Picoult is an amazing storyteller and you can tell she did a lot of research while writing it. It's timely and relevant, given the state of racial divide America is currently in. This book will shake you to the core. It will make you rethink everything you know or think about race and allow you to understand how different life can be on the other side of the fence. I also think it is important that Picoult wrote it, as a white woman who, I'm sure, has a large caucasian readership, because I don't know how many of her readers would pick up a book that was written by an author of color in order to absorb some of the struggles a black person in America faces. She is able to reach people who might not have this topic on their radar and leave them thinking about it going forward.

The one thing that bothered me about this book was that it seemed like Picoult wanted to address every single racial issue in this one novel and I think it was a bit overkill. Some of it was necessary to bring the theme of the novel home, but I recently read another reviewer write that it was like she was playing "black bingo" and was ticking off a checklist and I completely agree. I would have been left with a better taste in my mouth on this particular aspect had she chosen the most relevant issues and addressed them in more depth.

Overall, I thought this was a spectacular book. Picoult did a great job constructing it, as she always does. I think it's a novel that everyone could get something out of.

*I received an advance reading copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.*

I have read many books from Jodi Picoult and this one definitely did not disappoint. Can't wait to read what she writes next.

Please see my review on Goodreads

What a powerful and moving book! I think this was Picoult at her best. She tackled this difficult subject in a sensitive manner, and really shone a light on some of the intricacies of the situation. I stayed up last night until after 3:30am because I was so involved in this book and just had to finish it.

I loved Ruth, and hated the situation she was thrust into and the subsequent events she endured. She so obviously loved and cared for each of her charges, and my heart was broken for her when baby Davis died. I thought it said so much about her when she went to the morgue and cherished his little body. It was horrific that she was placed in a position where she would have lost no matter if she tried to save him, or followed the directive in his records of staying away from him. What a terrible place to be! I believe that her supervisor and the other nurse bore the overwhelming responsibility, if anyone did. They are the ones who ultimately left her when they knew it was violating orders.

I deplored the way Ruth was charged in the death so quickly and the manner in which she was arrested and her house searched. I thought she held up through the entire ordeal with much grace. I was a little shocked at one statement she made in court, but it was no wonder, after all of the stress she had been put through after a lifetime of tamping down her feelings.

There were some truly loathsome characters in this book. I thought Turk and Brit were despicable, so was kind of bewildered by how much they obviously loved baby Davis. I guess it never occurred to me before how people who are filled with such hatred could also feel that sort of love. I was shocked by some of the revelations that came out, and a few astonishing twists and turns. I was left sort of stunned by one of those at the end.

This was a great book, and one that will stay with me. I thought it was a fantastic work by Picoult. It was at times super uncomfortable to read, but it sure kept me enthralled. I loved some of the characters, hated others with equal fervor, and was completely shocked a few times. If you are a fan of Picoult, don't miss this one. It's difficult and uncomfortable, but so powerful and moving! Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a copy of the book in return for an honest review.