Best known for tackling controversial issues through richly told fictional accounts, Jodi Picoult's 14th novel, Nineteen Minutes, deals with the truth and consequences of a smalltown high-school shooting. Set in Sterling, New Hampshire, Picoult offers reads a glimpse of what would cause a 17-year-old to wake up one day, load his backpack with four guns, and kill nine students and one teacher in the span of nineteen minutes. As with any Picoult novel, the answers are never black and white, and it is her exceptional ability to blur the lines between right and wrong that make this author such a captivating storyteller.

On Peter Houghton's first day of kindergarten, he watched helplessly as an older boy ripped his lunch box out of his hands and threw it out the window. From that day on, his life was a series of humiliations, from having his pants pulled down in the cafeteria, to being called a freak at every turn. But can endless bullying justify murder? As Picoult attempts to answer this question, she shows us all sides of the equation, from the ruthless jock who loses his ability to speak after being shot in the head, to the mother who both blames and pities herself for producing what most would call a monster. Surrounding Peter's story is that of Josie Cormier, a former friend whose acceptance into the popular crowd hangs on a string that makes it impossible for her to reconcile her beliefs with her actions.

At times, Nineteen Minutes can seem tediously stereotypical-- jocks versus nerds, parent versus child, teacher versus student. Part of Picoult's gift is showing us the subtleties of these common dynamics, and the startling effects they often have on the moral landscape. As Peter's mother says at the end of this spellbinding novel, "Everyone would remember Peter for nineteen minutes of his life, but what about the other nine million?" --Gisele Toueg

Author: Jodi Picoult
Paperback:  480 pages
Company: Washington Square Press  (2008-02-05)
ISBN: 0743496736
List Price: $15.00
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The No Asshole Rule is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Business Week bestseller. It won a Quill Award for the top business book of 2007, and was recently chosen as one of audible.com's top picks as well.

Author: Robert I. Sutton
Hardcover:  224 pages
Company: Business Plus  (2007-02-22)
ISBN: 0446526568
List Price: $22.99
Amazon Price: $12.20
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Oh, would that all bullying problems could be solved so easily! Mean Jean is the reigning Recess Queen, pushing and smooshing, hammering and slammering the other kids whenever they cross her. And then one day a puny new girl shows up on the playground and catches Mean Jean completely off-guard. Not only is little Katie Sue not the least bit intimidated by the bully, she actually asks her to jump rope with her. In no time flat, Jean and Katie Sue are best buddies, and the playground is safe for all again.

Sure, it's simplistic, but there's a strong element of truth in this energetic rhyming story by Alexis O'Neill (Loud Emily). Bullies are people, too, and sometimes nothing is quite so effective as ingenuous disarmament. Big, bold, funny acrylic and collage illustrations by Laura Huliska-Beith (The Book of Bad Ideas) bounce right along with the text. (Ages 5 to 8) --Emilie Coulter

Author: Alexis O'neill
Hardcover:  32 pages
Company: Scholastic Press  (2002-02-01)
ISBN: 0439206375
List Price: $16.95
Amazon Price: $11.52
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Wanda Petronski lives way up in shabby Boggins Heights, and she doesn't have any friends. Every day she wears a faded blue dress, which wouldn't be too much of a problem if she didn't tell her schoolmates that she had a hundred dresses at home--all silk, all colors, and velvet, too. This lie--albeit understandable in light of her dress-obsessed circle--precipitates peals of laughter from her peers, and she never hears the end of it. One day, after Wanda has been absent from school for a few days, the teacher receives a note from Wanda's father, a Polish immigrant: "Dear teacher: My Wanda will not come to your school any more. Jake also. Now we move away to big city. No more holler Polack. No more ask why funny name. Plenty of funny names in the big city. Yours truly, Jan Petronski."

Maddie, a girl who had stood by while Wanda was taunted about her dresses, feels sick inside: "True, she had not enjoyed listening to Peggy ask Wanda how many dresses she had in her closet, but she had said nothing.... She was a coward.... She had helped to make someone so unhappy that she had had to move away from town." Repentant, Maddie and her friend Peggy head up to Boggins Heights to see if the Petronskis are still there. When they discover the house is empty, Maddie despairs: "Nothing would ever seem good to her again, because just when she was about to enjoy something--like going for a hike with Peggy to look for bayberries or sliding down Barley Hill--she'd bump right smack into the thought that she had made Wanda Petronski move away." Ouch. This gentle Newbery Honor Book convincingly captures the deeply felt moral dilemmas of childhood, equally poignant for the teased or the tormentor. Louis Slobodkin, illustrator of the 1944 Caldecott Medalist Many Moons, brings his wispy, evocative, color-washed sketches to Eleanor Estes's time-proven classic about kindness, compassion, and standing up for what's right. (Ages 6 and older) --Karin Snelson

Author: Eleanor Estes
Paperback:  96 pages
Company: Harcourt Paperbacks  (2004-09-01)
ISBN: 0152052607
List Price: $7.00
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Do not panic.

Lord Thistlebottom's Book of Pitfalls and How to Survive Them has taught Roxie Warbler how to handle all sorts of situations. If Roxie's ever lost in the desert, or buried in an avalanche, or caught in a dust storm, she knows just what to do. But Lord Thistlebottom has no advice to help Roxie deal with Helvetia's Hooligans, the meanest band of bullies in school.

Then Roxie finds herself stranded on a deserted island with not only the Hooligans but also a pair of crooks on the lam, and her survival skills may just save the day -- and turn the Hooligans into surprising allies.

Author: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Paperback:  128 pages
Company: Aladdin  (2007-05-08)
ISBN: 1416902449
List Price: $4.99
Amazon Price: $1.86
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It was the perfect summer. That is, until Jeremy Ross moved into the house down the street and became Enemy Number One. Luckily, Dad has a surefire way to get rid of enemies - Enemy Pie. But one of the secret ingredients is spending an entire day with the enemy! In this funny yet endearing story, one little boy learns an effective recipe for turing a best enemy into a best friend. With charming illustrations that bring to life the difficulties and ultimate rewards of making new friends, Enemy Pie serves up a sweet lesson in friendship. Written by Derek Munson and illustrated by Tara Calahan King.

Author: Derek Munson
Hardcover:  40 pages
Company: Chronicle Books  (2000-10)
ISBN: 081182778X
List Price: $15.95
Amazon Price: $8.51
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Author: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Paperback:  32 pages
Company: Aladdin  (1994-01-01)
ISBN: 0689718020
List Price: $6.99
Amazon Price: $3.26
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D.J.'s friend Vince has a habit of teasing D.J. and then saying, "Just kidding!" as if it will make everything okay. It doesn't, but D.J. is afraid that if he protests, his friends will think he can't take a joke. With the help of his father, brother, and an understanding teacher, D.J. progresses from feeling helpless to taking positive action, undermining the power of two seemingly harmless words. Trudy Ludwig takes another look at relational aggression, the use of relationships to manipulate and hurt others, this time from the boy's point of view.

Author: Trudy Ludwig
Hardcover:  32 pages
Company: Tricycle Press  (2006-03)
ISBN: 1582461635
List Price: $15.95
Amazon Price: $9.57
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I'm the new kid. I am tuf. This morning I beat up a kid.

It's only the first day of school for Dexter, but he's already mad at the principal, and the secretary, and the janitor, and the kids who laugh at him. When his teacher tells the class to write a story, Dexter writes about how tough he is -- and how he's already gotten into a fight. Is any of Dexter's story true? Why was the other boy crying before Dexter hit him? And why would the other boy still want to be Dexter's friend?

Even Dexter doesn't know the answers to some of those questions. But as he deals with family problems, a persistent teacher, and a boy who's strangely interested in floor wax, he discovers many surprises hidden in his own tale.

Author: Margaret Peterson Haddix
Paperback:  144 pages
Company: Aladdin  (2008-07-01)
ISBN: 1416911707
List Price: $4.99
Amazon Price: $2.22
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Author: Gershen Kaufman, Lev Raphael, Pamela Espeland
Paperback:  117 pages
Company: Free Spirit Publishing  (1999-10-01)
ISBN: 1575420686
List Price: $12.95
Amazon Price: $7.41
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