Small Great Things

The latest in the line of novels by Jodi Picoult, Small Great Things certainly does not disappoint. An author who is known for tackling tough issues, her latest theme is racism, and the subtle and not so subtle ways that it is expressed. The central characters are Ruth, an African-American labor and delivery nurse with 20 years experience; Kennedy, a Caucasian lawyer who represents Ruth when she is accused of the murder of a baby boy; and the accusers: a white supremacist husband and wife, the parents of the baby boy who died during a routine circumcision. The reader is forcibly drawn into the ensuing trial, and as the book ends, one is forced to re-examine his/her own views on the issue of racism. The title is excerpted from a quote by the renowned Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Another great novel delivered by Ms. Picoult…