My Sister's Keeper

"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."

This was the first book I’ve read by Jodi Picoult and I have to say, the story line totally pulled me in. It was fascinating, heartbreaking and hopeful wrapped in suspense. She managed to write this story in the voices of all the main characters, which only enhanced the story because the reader is able to look at the plot from different angles … a sort of placing oneself in the shoes of everyone involved.

There are 7 main characters (7 voices) that are involved in this story. Anna and Kate (the sisters), Jesse (their brother), Sara and Brian (their parents), Campbell (Anna’s lawyer) and Julia (Anna’s guardian at litem).

When Kate was 2 years old, she was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia. Her only chance of prolonging her life was if she could find a donor. Because this alone could take years (and she didn’t have years), her parents decided to fashion her a sister who would be a genetically perfect match through in vitro fertilization. A year later, Anna was born and made her first contribution at attempting to restore her sister’s life, by donating the blood from her umbilical cord. This was supposed to be her only contribution, however when Kate’s leukemia returned, Anna donated blood and bone marrow. Fast forward to Kate being 16 years old and Anna being 13. Kate’s kidneys are failing and Anna is expected to donate one of hers to save her sister’s life. Instead of going through with this, Anna does something that is unthinkable. She retains a lawyer (Campbell) to be medically emancipated from her parents and gain the right to make the decision herself.

Throughout the novel, we hear the voice of Anna who goes through with this for what the reader might think are selfish reasons (but the truth comes out at the end why she even initiated this lawsuit in the first place), the voice of her father, Brian, who loves both of his children and can understand Anna’s point of view, but still would do anything to save Kate, the voice of her mother, Sara, who is beside herself when the lawsuit comes to be and can’t understand why Anna would do such a thing, the voice of Jesse, the kid who in the midst of his sister’s illness has been cast aside by his parents, deemed the lost cause. We also hear the voice of Campbell and Julia, who happened to be past loves, and in their fight for a just cause, find their way back to eachother.

This book was so well written and had me hooked from the start. The twist at the end was so devastating and so unexpected (but I won’t give that away), but it also served to save that family and pull them back together. It was a fantastic read and one I would definitely recommend.