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In My Sister’s Keeper, Anna is conceived one specific reason; to save her sister Kate. Anna has give Kate her cord blood, bone marrow, and anything else Kate needs. When Anna is 13, she wants to become medically emancipated from her parents because she does not want to give Kate her kidney. Anna hires Campbell, a lawyer, without her parent knowing. When her mother finds out, she is very upset and tries to talk Anna out of going through the trail. Anna decides to continue with the trail and testifies at the end. Anna tells the judge that Kate didn’t want Anna to give her her kidney because Kate didn’t want to go through anymore pain if it was just going to prolong her life for a little while. The judge decides to legally emancipate Anna and on the way to the hospital Anna and Campbell get into a wreck. Anna gets injured badly and becomes brain dead. At the hospital, Campbell (who is given medical rights to Anna) decides to let her go and give her kidney to Kate. Kate lives to become a ballet teacher to young children. This book will touch you deeply and will leave you thinking about it long after you have finished the book. If you like books, with unexpected endings, you will love this book.Read full review
This book by Jodi Picoult is rather different to what I usually read, which tends to be S-F, fantasy and detective/crime thrillers. I read the blurb on the back and I thought it was an interesting idea, and the ethical issues it brings up sold me on reading it. It's about a family whose eldest daughter suffers from a very aggressive form of leukaemia, and they choose to have another child, genetically compatible with her, in order to help her fight against the cancer. A designer baby if you like. At first Anna their donor daughter's birth provides cord blood to help put Kate into remission. As she grows older, however, blood and bone marrow are needed when Kate relapses. Unlike the cord blood donation, these are invasive, painful procedures and pose some risk to Anna. But Kate's life is at stake. At 13, Anna's kidney is needed and it is at this point, that Anna gets herself a lawyer and asks to be medically emancipated from her parents. The story is told from various viewpoints, in first person, and jumps around in time periods for the backstory. I thought it was well-written, as all the characters of the family were sympathetically portrayed and you could understand and empathise with them. The pulls between wishing to save a sibling & wishing to be free of obligation, the difficulties of living in a family which has started to implode from the perpetual stresses, fears and demands of the sickness of one member were all well-drawn. I felt that the plotline with the lawyer, Campbell, and the guardian ad litem, Julia, was totally superfluous. The love story/mystery ailment just seemed unnecessary and I found myself flipping through those bits.. The book was all about choices over your own body, parent/child relationships, and how to balance the needs of one child against those of another. It threw up some interesting questions. Ultimately I think it failed to deliver: I suspected the twists and felt the ending was a complete cop-out. That said, it was a good premise and well-writtenRead full review
I bought this book after reading the synopsis in Barnes and Noble one day. I was not too impressed with the writing style of the author, but the concept she was writing about held my attention. I finished the book in one sitting, and woke my husband with tears pouring down my face in the middle of the night so I could tell him about it. The fact that parents might have a child in order to save an older child just drew me in to the plot and the ending was nothing like what I expected. I would have to say that the ending saved this book for me -- it was hovering around average right up until the ending when the totally unexpected happened. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.
I definately had a very hard time putting this one down. It was the book choosen for our book club and I am glad it was chosen. It is normally out of the genre I read, but this book was so well written and thought provoking, it is one I am certainly glad to have read. The author's sense of perspective and handling of the main theme and the different characters brought the reader to ponder ALL sides of the challenging decisions. Questions come to mind immediately about the motive of Sara about whether it is for kate's own good or for Sara's own selfishness. Every mother with two children in a similiar scenerio certainly would go through the same thought process and had the same drive to do what she did. the different levels of the character's strength in regards to this matter was also compelling. definately am amazing book that will leave you tearing up at the ending, which is least of all unexpected.Read full review
I originally bought this book because the author lives near me and I was curious......now, I can't wait to read all her works. This story drew me in and all the characters, although at odds with each other, acted out of love. The story of two sisters, brought together by an illness, is heartwrenching. When the younger sister decides to no longer be a living donor for her ill sister, the story takes off and takes you places you probably didn't know exsisted in you. Buy this book!
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