Bankton

Last year in social studies, when we were studying cruel and unusual punishment, I wrote a whole essay about living where the retail opportunities were somewhere between zero and nil, and although everyone in my class totally agreed with me, I only got a B, because my teacher was the kind of Birkenstock-granola hippie who thought Bankton, New Hampshire, was the best place on earth.

Handle with Care JODI PICOULT 2009

I was too busy protecting and serving the rest of Bankton to focus on protecting and serving you; that had fallen to Charlotte instead.

Handle with Care JODI PICOULT 2009

The patient was about thirty-five weeks into her pregnancy and had just moved to Bankton with her husband.

Handle with Care JODI PICOULT 2009

He was the only orthodontist in Bankton, New Hampshire, and pretty much had a monopoly on the adolescent market there, but he still went out of his way to make the dental experience something kids would enjoy.

Handle with Care JODI PICOULT 2009

We lived in Bankton, New Hampshire—a small town where you could actually drive down the street and have people honk when they recognized your car; a place where if you forgot your credit card at the grocery store, the checkout girl would just let you take your food and come back to pay later.

Handle with Care JODI PICOULT 2009

She goes to full-day kindergarten at Bankton Elementary School, where she studies reading and math and music.

Handle with Care JODI PICOULT 2009

Once we had landed and collected our luggage, I told you girls to use the restroom, since it was a long ride back from Logan Airport to Bankton.

Handle with Care JODI PICOULT 2009

Which meant she was within driving distance from my home in Bankton.

Handle with Care JODI PICOULT 2009

I work on the Bankton, New Hampshire, police force; I have for the past nineteen years.

Handle with Care JODI PICOULT 2009

There was even a picture of the four of us—one that had been taken for a Meet Your Friendly Neighborhood Cop circular put out by the Bankton PD two years ago.

Handle with Care JODI PICOULT 2009