My Sister's Keeper: A Novel (Wsp Readers Club)
New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult tells the story of a girl who decides to sue her parents for the rights to her own body in this riveting story that tackles a controversial subject with grace and explores what it means to be a good person.
Jodi Picoult is widely acclaimed for her keen insights into the hearts and minds of real people. Now she tells the emotionally powerful 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.
Jodi Picoult is widely acclaimed for her keen insights into the hearts and minds of real people. Now she tells the emotionally powerful 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.
BUY THE BOOK
These clubs recently read this book...
Community Reviews
I'm usually not into books like these with so much emotion and sadness but Jodi really knows how to suck you in.
I loved, loved this book. I finished it in two days.
I really enjoyed how each chapter was told from the point of view of one of the characters.
In the copy I read each character had their own font - I did not like that.
I really enjoyed how each chapter was told from the point of view of one of the characters.
In the copy I read each character had their own font - I did not like that.
Family can do unthinkable things just so one can live. The idea of literally being made to be used is unsettling. Plot twist is different from the film but both were done nicely.
Anna Fitzgerald was a designer baby -- conceived for the purpose of being a blood cord donor to a two-year-old sibling with leukemia. When the cord blood isnât enough to keep her sister, Kate, in remission, Anna donates lymphocytes, stem cells, and bone marrow, all by the time she is thirteen. Her life is so wound up in her sisterâs survival that she no longer knows who she is, and wonders when she can begin life with only her own goals and interests in mind, without the burden of knowing she is her sisterâs lifeline.
This drama is at the center of Jodi Picoultâs riveting novel, My Sisterâs Keeper. The story is told from the perspective of the key players: Anna; her mother, Sara; father, Brian; brother, Jesse; and Campbell, the attorney Anna hires to sue her parents for medical emancipation when her kidney is the next target donation for Kate. The book is well researched and thoughtfully examines questions about bio ethics as well as what happens to a family when all attention turns toward efforts to keep a child alive, and at what costs to the rest of the family. It is an emotionally honest portrayal, and you canât help but feel for every character involved: Sara, who knows she is ignoring her troubled son Jesseâs needs and Annaâs desire to do things as simple as play hockey, which Sara forbids, because an injury could risk Annaâs ability to donate a kidney.
As the story unfolds, voice by voice, Picoult keeps the surprises coming, and even when you think you see whatâs ahead, you will be blindsided by the stunning denouement. Heartbreaking yet ultimately hopeful, My Sisterâs Keeper is a three-hankie, page-turning read.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.