My Sister's Keeper

Jodi Picoult

MY SISTER’S KEEPER is a passionate, heart-wrenching and extremely powerful novel by Jodi...more

MY SISTER’S KEEPER is a passionate, heart-wrenching and extremely powerful novel by Jodi Picoult. This 423-page contemporary realistic work of fiction tells the story of the Fitzgerald family. The family is united by their devotion for each other, however divided by the un-answered question as to where their love should stop. The author wrote this novel based on a personal experience. When her son was only a few years old, he developed a serious ear infection, which turned out to be a severe illness that required several 5-hour surgeries to correct. There was also the risk that he would permanently loose his hearing. Over the course of three years, her son had ten operations. Amazingly, he kept his hearing. Picoult also did research on stem-cells. Although she believes the research is beneficial, she also believes that we need to be careful with our use of the research. Set in present-day suburban United States, the Fitzgeralds have the perfect family life. Brian is a firefighter and closet astronomer, and Sara is an ex-lawyer and a stay-at-home mom. Their life changes drastically however, when their daughter, Kate is diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) – an antagonist – at the early age of two. The family learns that the only way of increasing Kate’s chance of surviving this rare form of leukemia is to find a perfectly matched donor. Jesse, their other child – who is a troubled drug-addict–, is not a match. Anna, a third child, is the product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis and is conceived as a flawless genetic and bone-marrow match for Kate. As a young child, Anna obediently steps in whenever Kate needs leukocytes or stem cells or bone marrow; if Kate is hospitalized, Anna almost always is, too. Until she was thirteen, Anna – the protagonist – has never questioned her role in life. Now, though, the only remaining way to save Kate is a kidney transplant from Anna. It seems that to Sara – another antagonist – saving Kate is more important than anything or anyone else in life. She feels that because Anna has already done so much for her sister without question, donating a kidney will not be a big deal. Anna, however, feels differently. She feels invisible, and that nobody – not even her family – cares for her – that it is only Kate they love. I believe that Anna feels her family only pretends to love her, and that is only because she is capable of helping save Kate. Although Anna loves her sister with all her heart, the prospect of such severe surgery that will be required to remove an major organ from her body helps her make a decision – a decision that will tear apart her family. After raising as much money as she possibly can – a mere $136.87 – she hires Campbell Alexander as her lawyer to help her sue her parents for “rights to [her] own body”(pg. 19), or medical emancipation.    hide

This is a copy pasted review directly over from my LJ, with a few added notes for the rating....more

This is a copy pasted review directly over from my LJ, with a few added notes for the rating. Obviously this is not an objective review since it is 4 AM and I just finished the book, but here's what I got for it, spoiler free. Okay. The book is My Sister's Keeper, and it is by Jodi Picoult. It's about a genetically designed child. One embryo poked out of a petri dish specifically chosen because it matches the DNA of the parents' other daughter---Kate, who has a severe version of leukemia. It is about this child, Anna, who chooses to sue her parents when asked to give her sister a kidney at the age of 13. She sues her parents for medical emancipation, which means that she would get to make her own medical decisions. Obviously, this is a novel that deals with very modern and difficult issues. And surprisingly, it doesn't turn political. Rather, it's about a family that's torn apart in a matter of two weeks (but with a history that shows this was in the making for thirteen years), and is rebuilt again somehow shakily after. It's in a rather confusing format---every chapter is told in a different voice. The voices: Anna, the main character. Sara, the mother. Brian, the father. Campbell, the lawyer (representing Anna. Sara represents herself) Jesse, Anna and Kate's delinquent older brother. This makes for a very confusing narrative at first, but then the story itself is confusing. I think this is one of my only gripes with the book though, because once you as a reader settles into the form of the narrative, the book itself is well constructed, well planned, and endlessly drawing and provocative. Anyway, I won't give the story away, but I definitely recommend it. Thanks, Sherry, for recommending it to me. And for warning me not to read the ending. Yeah, everyone else, don't read the ending until you actually get there. This is a no-no with this book. That's about it. The only reason this is not a five star book is because of the slightly confusing narrative towards the beginning, and the tearjerker ending. I don't deal well with tearjerkers because they tend to be really obvious and grabby, which this was. I was a little disappointed, but I did cry a lot. But that doesn't mean it's a convincing or well-written ending.   hide

This is quite possibly the worst book I have ever read. It is a work bloated with Halmark card...more

This is quite possibly the worst book I have ever read. It is a work bloated with Halmark card sentimentality and fortune cookie wisdom. The story jumps between SIX different narrators, who all have, more or less, the same voice (and changing fonts to disntinguish narrators is a cheap parlour trick). Several characters could have been cut and many of the story lines are uninteresting and extraneous (who didn't shed a tear during the lawyer's flashback to childhood where his rich daddy was yelling at him on the yacht? I know I sure as hell didn't.) Stories like these are the reason I turn off the television and this is a movie of the week, at best. I have heard from several people how well researched this book is, but the writing is lazy and many of the little details are very sloppy (ie: Brian mentions if one travels in space for three years, 400 years will pass on earth - not true, Christopher Columbus didn't launch the satellites in space, nor is one of the cheif concerns of the Mars mission the 'fact' that 800 years will pass by the time they get back. One has to travel close to the speed of light for that. Or how about when a woman shows up in an octopus costume, raises 'one arm and eight others move along with it,' meaning that the costume had ten arms, or eighteen arms (2 real and 8 tied to strings on either side). Or when Julie says she got her Guatemalan bag (Central America), that she witnessed the weaving of, on her trip to South America? Or when the hispanic lady comes out the fire yelling 'Mija!' (which means nothing) which should really be "Mi hija!" (my daughter) I could go on all day, really). By the end I didn't care what happened.Everything wrapped up in such a way I could imagine myself in front of the television watching the characters go about their business and then become frozen, mid action, while a little blurb tells us their fate. So, if greeting cards make you cry and if the things you read on fortune cookies resonate deep within you, then you will love this book.   hide

Somehow, Picoult managed to pull of a book that is moving, emotional, poetic, personal, and still...more

Somehow, Picoult managed to pull of a book that is moving, emotional, poetic, personal, and still somehow very easy to read. The characters are, for the most part, very real and believable (with possible exceptions being Sara's total disregard of Anna and the extent of Campbell's overwhelming embarrassment). Those minor points aside, I would have to rate this as the best book I've ever read. The simply-laid prose is elegant and poetic; it's the type of book where every sentence is perfectly crafted and potent. The moral questions posed are relevant and very well addressed, the voices of all the narrators are distinct enough that, even without the chapter's narrator header, it would only take a moment to tell who's doing the talking. Finally, there are several nice plot twists and the ending (while some may see it as a bit contrived), is in my opinion flawless and with a careful re-reading of particular passages becomes even more satisfying and meaning-laden. My Sister's Keeper is certainly a tear-jerker (being the only book I've ever cried over), but one that both men and women and people of all different tastes can appreciate. Even if you're not a realistic fiction lover, you'd be doing yourself a great disservice by not reading this book. Sit down, light some candles, and enjoy! =)   hide

I love this book. It hit so close to home! I am making everyone I know read it, which is why I...more

I love this book. It hit so close to home! I am making everyone I know read it, which is why I never have my copy. This is one of those books that when I'm having a bad day, I can hug it and cry and I'll feel better (yes, I am one of those weird people who hugs books!). I love her writing style, and I definitely think this is her best book (though I haven't read Second Glance yet, and she says that's her favorite). I can't wait for the movie.   hide