New York Times best-seller list. Her book Change of Heart, published on March 4, 2008, was her second novel to debut at number 1 on that list. Handle with Care in 2009 and House Rules in 2010 also reached number 1 on the New York Times best-seller list. Jodi Picoult is aware that she is often pigeon-holed as chick-lit author, but stated that what she loses in critical acclaim, she gains in influence: "I’m never going to win the Nobel prize for literature, not going to win a National Book award, never even going to be nominated. What you trade for that is sales and readership. And I would rather reach more people. It would be very nice to not be unfairly accused of being a bad writer, but hopefully if you do pick up one of my books, you will be quickly disabused of that notion." In November 2019, Picoult participated in the criticism of Brooke Nelson, a college student who was mentioned in her local newspaper as saying she thought that author Sarah Dessen's YA novels were not suitable for the Common Read program run by Northern State University, Aberdeen, and had instead advocated for the inclusion of Just Mercy, a memoir by civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson. Picoult described Nelson's views as "sinister" and "demeaning to women", and encouraged her followers on Twitter to "fight the patriarchy" in response to Nelson's comments. When the story was reported in Jezebel, The Guardian, The Washington Post, and Slate, Picoult posted an apology on Twitter, noting that her remarks had resulted in harassment and bullying of Nelson. Advocacy In 2016, Picoult joined the advisory board of Vida: Women in Literary Arts, a "non-profit feminist organization committed to creating transparency around the lack of gender parity in the literary landscape and to amplifying historically-marginalized voices, including people of color; writers with disabilities; and queer, trans and gender nonconforming individuals". Picoult's website says that VIDA: Women in Literary Arts is a research-driven organization. She was a member of the inaugural Writers Council of the National Writing Project in 2013, an organization which recognizes the "universality of writing as a communicative tool and helps teachers enhance student writing". This inaugural group consisted of 30 published authors. She was a spokesperson for Positive Tracks, which empowers young people to fundraise through the power of athletics and partners with other charitable organizations. In 2010, Picoult