Why a Booktrail?
2000s: A midwife is accused of the most horrific crime… and this is very much a black and white case
Small Great Things
What you need to know before your trail
Ruth is a well respected midwife who is liked by patients and colleagues alike.She’s been a midwife for over 20 years and thinks she’s seen it all. But she’s not expecting the day when she would be accused, isolated and cast aside.
Ruth is one day banned from looking after a baby when its parents object to the colour of her skin. Ruth is black and the parents are white – white supremists – who don’t want her anywhere near them or their baby.
One day she finds herself alone in the room with the baby – and it’s in severe distress. What should she do? Either way, she can’t win. But then tragedy strikes and the consequences are as shocking as they widespread
Ruth, the father and the public defender tell their side of the story
Travel Guide
America and racism
Racism doesn’t just exist in America of course but this story is set there and was inspired by a story Jodi Picoult read about an African american nurse who was told by a white supremacist that she couldn’t touch or care for the baby. This understandably started a discrimination case and this was the premise for the story told through the eyes of the three people in the whole sorry affair – the nurse, the white supremacist father and the judge presiding over the case.
This situation could happen anywhere and in any city and it’s this scary thought that makes it all the more compelling. Some of the organisations Jodi used as part of her research include the wiesenthal Centre.
The title of the book comes from the Martin Luther King quote – If I cannot do great things I can do small things in a great way”
The Martin Luther King Centre is a place everyone needs to visit
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
This is quite a read. Impressive for the research and depth of feeling that’s gone into it, and the many many questions that it gets you thinking about after you’ve read it. I was lucky enough to attend a talk by Jodi on her tour in the UK and she left me with such an impression and questions that I’d never really thought about before. What racism is, how if left untreated it can fester and grow and the many ugly faces it has. But on the other side, the contrast between the evil face of extremist groups and a man who can one day find himself in this group and then in a group which helps those he has directed his anger at all these years….then the building of that bridge is an impressive one indeed.
This book has so much to it – racism, prejudice and what we think we know about it all, the reality that people face each and every day – Black, white and every shade in between – there are many shades of grey in this subject.
This struck a chord with me as I was recently visiting someone in hospital and a white woman in the next bed also objected to an African nurse treating her. I can’t say I know what happened next but that moment of shock when I realised that this goes on each and every day and on your very doorstep showed me how I couldn’t see something right in front of me.
This book makes you think and it should be read in schools and everywhere to educate everyone of the dangers but also of the hope that fighting and beating racism can lead to. Jodi’s story is based on fact and shocking thought it is, it’s poignant, beautifully written and unforgettable.
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: Small Great Things
Author/Guide: Jodi Picoult Destination: New Haven, New York Departure Time: 2000s
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