Shine by Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult tackles issues of race and privilege in this ebook original short story, a prequel to her upcoming novel Small Great Things. 

Today is Ruth’s first day of third grade at Dalton. The prestigious institution on New York’s Upper East Side couldn’t be more different from her old school in Harlem. Despite being the smartest girl in her grade, Ruth suspects that her classmates and teachers only see her dark skin. She also notices that Christina, the daughter of her mother’s employer, treats Ruth very differently when they’re hanging out with the popular girls rather than playing together. Ruth must navigate between two worlds, never losing sight of the dreams she has for herself—in hopes that someday, someone will see her for who she really is.

Includes a preview of Jodi Picoult’s highly anticipated new novel, Small Great Things!

Kindle Edition, 42 pages

Published September 13, 2016 

by Ballantine Books

4/5 stars

Jodi Picoult's Small Great Things is a book that has been on my TBR shelf for ages.  When I found out there was a short story prequel, I grabbed that from Audible. It's about an hour long.

Shine introduced me to Ruth Brooks as a young girl. She’s just started third grade at a new school and it couldn’t feel more different from the one she left behind in Harlem. Ruth is bright and capable, but she quickly realizes that the way people see her has less to do with her talent than with the colour of her skin. Even her friendship with Christina, the daughter of the woman her mother works for, starts to act different depending on who else is around.

What Picoult does well, as usual, is show moments through a child’s eyes. Ruth notices things, small slights, shifting loyalties, assumptions made about her and tries to make sense of them the way any child would. 

Being a short story, it does end rather quickly, just as I was getting invested. That’s both its strength and its weakness: it left me wanting more, which I suspect is exactly the point.  Moving Small Great Things up on my TBR mountain.

 My copy obtained through Audible.