New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult is widely acclaimed for her keen insights into the hearts and minds of real people. Now she tells the emotionally riveting story of a family torn apart by conflicting needs and a passionate love that triumphs over human weakness.
Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate — a life and a role that she has never challenged…until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister — and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves.
My Sister’s Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child’s life, even if that means infringing upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to discover who you really are, if that quest makes you like yourself less? Should you follow your own heart, or let others lead you? Once again, in My Sister’s Keeper, Jodi Picoult tackles a controversial real-life subject with grace, wisdom, and sensitivity.
Have you ever had tears streaming down your face when you have finished a book? You will if you read My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult this is the second book I have read by this author, and it has to be by far the most emotional book I have read this year, maybe ever.
My Sister’s Keeper follows the emotional story of a family that has one daughter stricken with a very serious rare form of leukemia and the daughter that they genetically matched to be her donor. They also have the eldest son Jesse who is a rebel without a cause and the heart breaking core issue of, just how much is too much to ask a Sister to do?
In My Sister’s Keeper we are forced to look at some serious and emotional issues is it right to genetically have a child to be another ones spare parts? It truly brings out the old English saying of an Heir and a Spare. Does that mean you love the child who is the donor any less? Does it mean that they should always feel obligated to give, give and give? Who is the selfish one the child who keeps getting or the child who no longer wishes to give? And can you yourself honestly answer any of these questions yourself in Black and white.
The writing in this book is amazing; it pulls you into the story so that you can see the pieces fitting together. I can honestly see why this book was made into a movie, the storytelling is painted so well and so vivid you can’t help but seeing it as a reel of movie film in your head. I went into this book knowing it was going to be emotional and sad, and I came out with tears on my face and not expecting the ending that came. I will recommend this book to anyone I know who reads, and even those who don’t. My Sister’s Keeper is the best book I have read in 2009.
