My Sister's Keeper: A Novel

Additional My Sister's Keeper: A Novel Information

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.

What Customers Say About My Sister's Keeper: A Novel:

That is trully getting your opinions out there in an indirect non-offensive way. They make you wonder about the issue she has written about, and make you want to talk about it with someone. Great work. Clever, well written and while most of the time a real tear jerker, it suprisingly has a lot of action/suspense. She tackles very unique and complex issues, as she does in all of her books.

Looking foward to seeing the movie to see how it compares. The book was shipped very quickly and the book is a great read.

There is one aspect though that I feel Picoult didn't create enough space for the characters to grapple with - the existential questions about God and life and the hereafter that are almost inevitably raised by such tragedy. Ambitiously plotted, Picoult writes this story from the first person point of view of seven different characters and pulls it off well. (Lisa McKay, Author of My Hands Came Away Red) Apart from some musing about fairness and fate, those questions almost entirely missing from the story, and I think it robs the story of one extra level of depth. The book is a tear-jerker - she takes you deep into the heart of watching a child or sibling suffer with catastrophic illness, and the confusion of seemingly impossible choices. It's compelling and you ache deeply for the characters even as you confront your own fear that this too, could happen to your family.

I'm not a prude, I just find that word and some of the graphics un-necessary and offensive. I loved the story, but frankly was a bit disappointed that they felt the need to stick the "f" word in so much, and some of the graphic sex. I wonder if the original writing had that in there, or if it was just added in the movie version. Other than that it was a very good book. I don't think it makes it anymore believable, and don't believe that people like reading books with that in it. When I was done, I wished I had blackened out that word, and some of the graphic parts, as I'd recommend the book, but wouldn't want anyone else to have to read that stuff either.

There is really nothing good about this book. Brian and Sara are the same. Almost everyone in this book thinks so philosophically that I can not stop rolling my eyes. My sister in law told me how this book made her cry and she could not stop reading it. Don't waste your time. ALL I got is anger.The author tried wayyyyyy too hard to write those cheesy, sappy lines. So, out of curiosity, I purchased it and anticipated tears streaming down my cheeks.Here I am, 350 pages, I have not got one single tear, nor have I felt the emotion to cry. The 13 year old Anna thinks like a 53, who has been through everything in life.