Book Description:

Jodi Picoult offers her most powerful chronicle yet of an American family with a story that probes the unbreakable bond between parent and child -- and the dangerous repercussions of trying to play the hero.

Trixie Stone is fourteen years old and in love for the first time. She's also the light of her father's life -- a straight-A student; a freshman in high school who is pretty and popular; a girl who's always looked up to Daniel Stone as a hero. Until, that is, her world is turned upside down with a single act of violence...and suddenly everything Trixie has believed about her family -- and herself -- seems to be a lie.

For fifteen years, Daniel Stone has been an even-tempered, mild-mannered man: a stay-at-home dad to Trixie and a husband who has put his own career as a comic book artist behind that of his wife, Laura, who teaches Dante's Inferno at a local college. But years ago, he was completely different: growing up as the only white boy in an Eskimo village, he was teased mercilessly for the color of his skin. He learned to fight back: stealing, drinking, robbing, and cheating his way out of the Alaskan bush. To become part of a family, he reinvented himself, channeling his rage onto the page and burying his past completely...until now. Could the young boy who once made Trixie's face fill with light when he came to the door have been the one to end her childhood forever? She says that he is, and that is all it takes to make Daniel, a man with a history he has hidden even from his family, venture to hell and back in order to protect his daughter.

The Tenth Circle looks at that delicate moment when a child learns that her parents don't know all of the answers and when being a good parent means letting go of your child. It asks whether you can reinvent yourself in the course of a lifetime or if your mistakes are carried forever -- if life is, as in any good comic book, a struggle to control good and evil, or if good and evil control you.


WOW - what a captivating novel! Jodi Picoult has come through again with another thought-provoking story. This one resonated very strongly with me because I have two daughters, one a year older than Trixie and the other a year younger than her. I kept thinking how I'd feel and how I'd react if this was happening to one of my daughters and it was our family who was being torn in so many different directions. At times, it was a bit unnerving, but it was also valuable lesson in parenting. I loved the Alaskan setting and the Eskimo culture, but the Dante's Inferno metaphor was way too deep for me and for the most part, went over my head.

sending to vzfamily

I received this in the mail this past week with a BEAUTIFUL bookmark as well. Sorry it took me this long to post it, I haven't had much internet time lately. I had COMPLETELY forgotten about this one - so it came as a surprise! Thanks for remembering when I didn't:)

Another great Picoult novel! I loved the Alaskan/Eskimo/Inuit setting and would love for her to have an entire book set up there. Once again she left that grey area for each character that I love. Were they right or wrong in the choices they made? I remember being a young teen, and I remember all of the changes and confusion that happens in your life and the way it affects you. The one thing I never thought about was how it affected my parents. As the mother of a 4 year old with another on the way, that is what has stuck with me the most from this book!

Sending this to Firegirl in a trade for "Perfect Match" by Jodi Picoult! Happy Reading!!!

Arrived safely. Thanks!

Finished this today at work. I enjoyed, but not as much as some of Picoult's other works. In fact, I'm a bit disappointed but it may be because I expected so much out of it. I'm absolutely am enchanted by Dante's Inferno and was very excited when I realized it played such a big part in this novel. I'm also fascinated by Alaska and the Eskimo culture, so that was an even bigger plus. Somehow, though, this book just didn't do it for me. I didn't think the deep questions and discussion topic (for lack of a better phrase) was as promienent as in her other books. I found the teenagers to be believeable characters, but not really the adults, especially the two parents. So much of the storyline felt contrived to me as well, which isn't something I expect from Picoult. Her same fluid, fast-paced writing is there and I whipped through this book quickly, but something was just missing from it this time around. I enjoyed the book all right, I was just hoping for something more.

Sending out to Trekwoman for postage. Enjoy!

Would it be completely odd of me to hop up and down and say, "Hurrah, another Picoult to read!"? Because that's exactly how I feel about it.

:: hops ::

All right. Bit of a bone to pick. I like that she tied in the character''s job (graphic artist) by incorporating some actual graphic art (or, cartoon panels, for you old-schoolers out there). I even appreciated the nod to Dante''s Inferno, which was a nice choice.

However (and SPOILERS AHEAD).. I thought it was just so lame that 1) the English professor wife cheated on her husband for some excitement with one of her graduate students and then a) justified doing so to said husband by saying, "He reminded me of you." Give me a BREAK, lady.

Secondly, didn''t appreciate that the daughter acted like a virgin when really she''d been quite the opposite, sleeping around and doing drugs at age fourteen.

I read through to the first hundred pages, became frustrated by the story and flipped to the end for the resolution. My one regret is that I''d not waited for over a hundred pages before doing so.

( Read during the Five by Five contest draw period as a possible prize. )

[BFP]

Sending via post to Dabercro.

received in the mail today from trekwoman. Thank You!!! I'm a big Jodi Picoult fan. After reading the other journal entries, I hope I'm not disappointed.

I was disappointed with this book. It wasn't up to my expectations of a Jodi Picoult novel. I felt detached from the characters and didn't really care what happened to them. I would have liked for her to have dealt a little more with the date rape and the self mutilation issues. In other books I have read by this author, I feel she brings up a lot of gray areas where it leaves the reader wondering what is really right or wrong. I didn't feel like that with this book. I guess that was what was missing for me.

Sending to TempestSans as part of the Spring Fling Group RABCK Game. You have quite an extensive bookshelf but I didn't see any books by this author on your shelf. I hope you enjoy this book!

how cool! like christmas in May! hubby brought up the mail just now and i expected to have a stack of catalogs to recycle, maybe a bill and a bit of junk mail to throw out. instead i am pleased to have found this lovely book! thanks for noticing i had not read anything by this author and sharing with me. i have thought to pick her books up but with so many others languishing on my TBR i have felt guilty and just not done it. now i can enjoy and still not feel guilty!

think this may be my next read when i finish my current two!

thanks for sharing!

handed off to a friend (DS's best friend's mom) who is always kind enough to share books with me. hope she will enjoy it.

quick read, sometimes predictable and other times a twist. thanks for sharing.

back in my house and ready to be shared somewhere else.

off in the mail to easterngirl71

I am looking forward to reading this book. I have yet to find a Jodi Picoult book I have not liked! Thanks for sharing.