Join us for a discussion of the PLS Reads book, “Small Great Things” by Jodi Picoult. The group will be led by a guest moderator. Themes include: race, privilege, prejudice, justice, and compassion.
“Small Great Things” is one of the two books being read this year during the PLS READS 2019. The other book, “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas is also available and being discussed at other locations. Check the calendar for those dates.
About “Small Great Things” the Washington Post said, “Small Great Things” is the most important novel Jodi Picoult has ever written. Frank, uncomfortably introspective and right on the day’s headlines, it will challenge her readers...The difficult self-awareness is what sustains this book...forcing engaged readers to meditate on their own beliefs and actions along with these characters....It's also exciting to have a high-profile writer like Picoult take an earnest risk to expand our cultural conversation about race and prejudice.
Short Summary: Ruth Jefferson is an experienced labor and delivery nurse who not only knows how to guide women through labor, but also understands post-delivery needs such as a shoulder to cry on and lipstick. But her career and life change forever when she hesitates before helping a baby in cardiac arrest. 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?
PLS READS Sponsors are Norman Arts Council, the Anne & Henry Zarrow Foundation, Pioneer Library System Foundation and Pioneer Library System.