Jodi Picoult Books

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Jodi Picoult is an American Author born in 1966 in Nesconset, Long Island. Picoult’s family was Jewish, though they were non-practicing. Writing came easy to Jodi. She took up the habit at a very early stage. By the time she was five, Jodi was writing her own stories.

Jodi Picoult is a best-selling American author. Her work is hard to define in any specific genre other than fiction, purely because the subject matters she covers in her books is just so diverse. Lifetime have adapted several of her books for broadcast, and her most well-known novel, My Sister’s Keeper, was adapted into a hit film.

Jodi Lynn Picoult was born in Long Island, New York in May 1966 to Jewish parents, although she describes her upbringing as not as strictly Jewish as other families might have been at the time. Writing was always a passion for Jodi Picoult, as she was creating stories from a young age, and she then went on to study writing at Princeton University, graduating in 1987.

Only five years after graduating, Picoult released her first book, Songs of the Humpback Whale, which focuses on the character Jane Jones as she sets out on a cross country journey from San Diego, California to Massachusetts to get away from her abusive husband to live with her brother. Songs of the Humpback Whale employs a narrative style that Picoult uses in her other books, telling the story from several characters’ perspectives, rather than just telling it in from one first person viewpoint, or third person as is the norm. Critically, the book is not seen as one of Picoult’s best, but as it’s her first published book, you can see the raw style that Picoult has developed over time.

Jodi Picoult does not really have a series devoted to a specific character, although she does return to some characters from time to time to develop their story further, or to simply catch up on them further down the line. Perhaps the most notable characters to return in Jodi Picoult’s books is the McAfee family – Jordan, his wife Selenda and son Thomas. They are featured in The Pact, Salem Falls, as well as Nineteen Minutes.

But undoubtedly Jodi Picoult’s best-known book is My Sister’s Keeper, which was adapted into a film starring Cameron Diaz. My Sister’s Keeper tells the story of Anna, a teenage girl who was born as a saviour sister for her Kate who was born with leukaemia. Anna is asked to donate a kidney to save her sister’s life, but she is against it and decides to sue her parents for medical emancipation in an attempt to avoid doing the surgery. The book was a critical and a commercial success, and is the work for which Jodi Picoult is most associated.

Eventually graduating from Princeton University in 1987, Jodi performed a number of jobs before getting her Master’s Degree from Harvard University. The author can probably trace her origins as a writer all the way to Volume 3 of DC’s Wonder Woman comic, which she began to write when Allan Heinberg left.

She eventually took to writing novels, finally hitting it big with Nineteen Minutes, a book that explores the aftermath of a school shooting and which became her first novel to reach Number One on the New York Times Best Seller List.

While Jodi doesn’t really write series, some of her characters tend to have recurring roles outside the books within which they are were first introduced. They include Detective Patrick Ducharme who appeared in perfect Match and then featured in Nineteen Minutes.

Then there is Ian Fletcher who made appearances in Keeping Faith and Change of Glance, not to mention Perfect Match.

Jodi has admitted that reusing some of her characters makes writing a little simpler because she knows how they act and speak and, thus, doesn’t have to reinvent them.

Jodi Picoult Awards

Jodi Picoult has elicited a number of accolades for her efforts as a writer, this including the Green Mountain Book Award, the Virginia Reader’s Choice Award, and the Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award.

She has also been nominated for the Iowa High School Book Award and the Edgar Allan Poe Award, not to mention the Colorado Blue Spruce Award.

Jodi Picoult Books into Movies

Jodi has had the opportunity to see many of her books become movies, this including The Pact, Plain Truth, The Tenth Circle and Salem Falls. The most popular of these adaptations has been My Sister’s Keeper.

Unlike the other movies, which were Lifetime Original Movies, My Sister’s Keeper was a feature film starring notable actors like Alec Baldwin, Abigail Breslin, and Cameron Diaz. Directed by Nick Cassavetes and released in 2009, the movie follows a girl who was born for the specific purpose of saving her sister.

Best Jodi Picoult Books

Jodi Picoult has made a name for herself for producing some truly poignant novels that ask difficult questions about life, with some of the best books in her bibliography including the following:

Nineteen Minutes: Sterling used to be ordinary, just another town in New Hampshire where nothing ever really happened. But that was before the town was rocked by a shocking act of violence. Now, it falls on the daughter of a judge to try and set things right by being the state’s witness.

However, her shattered memory of an event that played out right in front of her begins to reveal some underlying conflicts. Soon families and friends turn against one another.

The reason this book works is because it posits a lot of questions. It isn’t immediately made clear what happened or even why it happened. The story revolves around a school shooting. However, once Jodi begins peeling some of the layers back, it is revealed that so much more is going on beneath than meets the eye.

Jodi shows an amazing ability to play devil’s advocate, turning on her characters in one instance and then fighting for them in the next, giving readers a unique and unbiased insight into the situation as it plays out.

My Sister’s Keeper: At thirteen years of age, Anna has spent more time in the hospital being poked, prodded and cut that people several decades older. This is despite the fact that she is not actually sick.

Kate, her sister, has a form of Leukemia that has threatened her well-being since she was a child. Anna was born so that she could be the perfect organ match for her sister. And she has spent years acquiescing to this role and playing her part. But no more.

Anna breaks rank and makes a decision that will bring the whole family to its knees.

This book is very provocative. It asks some very difficult questions but gives almost no answers. That is what Jodi always does. She cares little about giving easy answers, instead preferring to get her readers thinking and debating the conundrums she raises in her work.

Jodi Picoult FAQ

Q: What is Jodi Picoult’s real name?

A: The author Jodi Picoult was born Jodi Lynn Picoult. She doesn’t use a pen name, so you don’t have to hunt to find anything written by Jodi Picoult.

Q: Did Jodi Picoult write the screenplay for My Sister’s Keeper?

A: No, Jodi Picoult did not write the screenplay for My Sister’s Keeper. The screenplay for My Sister’s Keeper was written by Jeremy Leven and Nick Cassavetes.

When Does The Next Jodi Picoult book come out?

Jodi Picoult doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is By Any Other Name and was released on August, 20th 2024.

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