My Sister's Keeper
A Story of Choices and Betrayal
Plot Summary
The difficult choices a family must make when a child is diagnosed with a serious disease are explored. Kate Fitzgerald suffers from leukemia, a blood and bone marrow cancer. Anna Fitzgerald, her younger sister, was born specifically so she could save Kate's life. At first it is successful, but the cancer continues to relapse throughout Kate's life. Anna is usually willing to donate whatever Kate needs, but when she turns 13, she is told that she will have to donate one of her kidneys. The stress of he operation could potentially kill Kate, and the loss of a kidney could have a serious impact on Anna's life. Anna petitions for medical emancipation with the help of lawyer Campbell Alexander, so that she will be able to make her own decisions regarding the donation of her kidney. In this book, Anna questions who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister. Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that could tear her family apart and have fatal consequences for the sister she loves.
Character Anaelyisis of Anna
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 leukemia. Anna is the product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, and was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate. This is a life and a role that she has never challenged until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is.
About the Author
New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult, born in 1966, grew up in Long Island an moved to New Hampshire at the age of 13. She took to writing at an early age, her first book written at the age of 5 entitled "The Lobster Who Misunderstood". Picoult has always held a passion for writing, and currently has some 14 million copies of her books in print worldwide.