Four books that changed Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult's many books include the young-adult (YA) novel, Off The Page, which was co-written with her daughter, Samantha van Leer.

One of four books that changed Picoult, as shared at the Sydney Morning Herald:

GONE WITH THE WIND
Margaret Mitchell

I read this book when I was 13; it was the story that made me want to be a writer. I used to act out sections as both Rhett AND Scarlett, which explains why I didn't have a boyfriend till I was 15. I was intrigued by the idea of how Mitchell had created an entire world out of words, so rich it felt as if I were immersed in it. I thought, maybe I could do that too.

Read about another novel on the list.

Gone With the Wind is among five books that changed Kimberley Freeman, Becky Ferreira's seven best comeuppances in literature, Emily Temple's ten greatest kisses in literature and Suzi Quatro's six best books, and was a book that made a difference to Pat Conroy. It is on the Christian Science Monitor's list of the ten best novels of the U.S. Civil War.

--Marshal Zeringue