“The imagination imitates. It is the critical spirit that creates.” – Oscar Wilde

I once participated in a group exercise where I had to pinpoint one of my strengths. I said, after only a moment’s thought, “I’m highly critical.” I can love something, but to the naked eye, my love is unrecognizable due to my critique. But I find criticism to be a very high form of praise, when coming from myself. It means I cared enough to pay attention to the details. And that brings me to today’s subject: Jodi Picoult. Criticism is my way of showing her love.

I like reading Jodi Picoult’s work because it is entertaining, enjoyable, and overall relaxing. She hands us real people, within a possible situation, and creates a portrait about humanity. I’ll be the first to admit that she can be a little melodramatic, but I’m entertained. Recently I read Second Glance and Salem Falls nearly back to back and doing so highlighted all of Picoult’s faults and assets.

Second Glance is Picoult’s first foray into the supernatural. On her part, this is a mistake. Second Glance is the tale of several characters, all at critical intersections of their lives, who all collide when a “haunted house” supposedly built on an Indian graveyard is about to be torn down. Every character, all though seemingly unrelated at first, are drawn into the mystery of who might have died at the house. The amount of melodrama and high rate of coincidence in her stories keep her novels right on the line of high entertainment value that one can still suspend their disbelief for. But there are far too many characters in this novel, more than the average reader can really keep track of, and more than Picoult herself can handle. The addition of the supernatural pushed the story of Second Glance right over that line and strains the credibility of the story, even for a diehard fan. The characters are believable and interesting enough, but the story line just becomes tired.

Salem Falls is right in Picoult’s usual vein. Jack St. Bride has been wrongly convicted of sexual assault and moves to the sleepy New England village of Salem Falls to escape his past. There his life intersects with several other characters that are also at critical junctures of re-discovery and identity. This leads to accusations and mistrust in a town that has a lot of secrets. Her usual narrative style of many different points of view, sometimes even in different timelines, is a strength in this book because there are only a few characters that she really focuses on, also a huge asset here. While she does more harm than good to some of her main characters, leaving the reader to wonder who is really good and who is really bad, Picoult creates complicated characters, with real problems.

Second Glance, too many characters, too much relies on the supernatural : C

Salem Falls, complicated characters with fascinating revelations right up until the last paragraph: B

Some books define the kind of reader you will be for the rest of your life. Of course, you don’t know until you read the book, and I don’t think you can choose the book, I think the book chooses you. Kind of like the wand chooses the wizard. The key book that defined me as a reader was The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin.

The Westing Game (another Newbury Medal winner) is the story of 16 strangers brought together by a will, claiming they are all heirs to the fortune of Sam Westing. None of them knew Westing, nor that they were related to him, let alone to each other. In order to get the inheritance, they are provided clues, set up in teams, and must solve the mystery of who killed Sam Westing. Soon the game reveals much more about each heir than anyone was prepared to reveal, and the goal of the game becomes muddled as each tries to discover what they really want in life.

I love this book, because despite being Young Adult Fiction, it is complex, the characters are fascinating, and it is a page turner. As a child you identify with the character of Turtle, a misunderstood adolescent who is overshadowed by her beautiful sister. But after reading it as an adult, I find new characters who intrigue me, and who I identify with just as much as I identified with Turtle when I was twelve. This richness thrills me upon each reading. The mystery is interesting as is the plot, which is great considering the book was written in 1979. Sometimes books can go stale with age, but this one is a classic, so instead it is a breath of fresh air. The book is also smart, and you feel such satisfaction upon unraveling the mystery.

I recommend this book for teens over 13, because it is a smarter book, and might be confusing for readers too young. I also highly recommend this book for mystery lovers. Otherwise, I think most adults would be surprised how interesting they find this book, despite being YA fiction. If you haven’t read it, treat yourself. You won’t regret it.

Grade:  A

Ok, I’ll admit it, I am a Jodi Picoult fan. I discovered her last year, when I bought a book on tape called My Sister’s Keeper. Now I have never been a book on tape kind of kid before. Sure, I jumped on the Harry Potter bandwagon and listened to Jim Dale with childish delight (his Doby is the best), but I’ve never considered myself a fan of the medium. But let me tell you, I could never quite get out of the car when I was supposed to each time I listened to it. Picoult has a knack for a story, I’ll tell you. So, I was excited to hear in my “Amish” phase that she wrote a book with an Amish plot. And that is how I came to buy The Plain Truth.

The Plain Truth is a tale of a young Amish teenager, Katie, accused of murdering her own newborn infant. When a distant “English” cousin, Ellie, comes to town, who happens to be a lawyer, relations push her into defending the Amish teen. Katie and Ellie are unlikely allies, but in a time of desperate need for both, they are thrown together in way that will change their lives.

The Plain Truth is not what I expected. It seems people are far more fascinated by Amish kids gone wrong, than in the lifestyle itself. I suspect this is because all non-Amish believe that every Amish person secretly wishes to be in our world, so seeing such a kid go crazy is much more interesting. I mean what could be so appealing about the 18^th century Amish lifestyle. Please note my intense sarcasm.

Picoult falls into the category above, spending more time exploring the life of an Amish teenager gone wrong, then exploring the Amish lifestyle itself. Therefore, there is nothing so fascinating in that aspect of the tale. And I am guessing because she thought the Amish bit would be such a draw, she didn’t put the same work into the main characters that she usually does. None of them are very fleshed out, and their histories and interactions are fairly bland. I found myself just not caring.

Over all, the book is an OK murder mystery/court room drama, but having read 3 other Piccoult novels, it is not up to her usual standards.

Grade: C-