Ballantine
October 2016
On Sale: October 11, 2016
Featuring: Kennedy McQuarrie; Ruth Jefferson
480 pages ISBN: 0345544951 EAN: 9780345544957 Kindle: B01AQNYZ3I Hardcover / e-Book Add to Wish List
Ruth Jefferson is a labor and delivery nurse at a
Connecticut hospital with more than twenty years’
experience. During her shift, Ruth begins a routine checkup
on a newborn, only to be told a few minutes later that she’s
been reassigned to another patient. The parents are white
supremacists and don’t want Ruth, who is African American,
to touch their child.
The hospital complies with their request, but the next day,
the baby goes into cardiac distress while Ruth is alone in
the nursery. Does she obey orders or does she intervene?
Ruth hesitates before performing CPR and, as a result, is
charged with a serious crime. Kennedy McQuarrie, a white
public defender, takes her case but gives unexpected advice:
Kennedy insists that mentioning race in the courtroom is not
a winning strategy. Conflicted by Kennedy’s counsel, Ruth
tries to keep life as normal as possible for her
family—especially her teenage son—as the case becomes a
media sensation.
As the trial moves forward, Ruth and Kennedy must gain each
other’s trust, and come to see that what they’ve been taught
their whole lives about others—and themselves—might be wrong.
With incredible empathy, intelligence, and candor, Jodi
Picoult tackles race, privilege, prejudice, justice, and
compassion—and doesn’t offer easy answers.
Small Great Things is a remarkable achievement from a writer
at the top of her game.