Synopsis:From fantasticfiction.co.uk:

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 pre-implantation 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.
Genre:Literature & Fiction
Rating:@@@@
Pages:432
BCID:xxx-4396928
ISBN:o-3408-3546-X
Year:2005
Format:Paperback
Comments:My Sister’s Keeper was easy to read and impossible to put down. I stayed up late into the night reading this one. The decision Anna makes to take control of her own body, despite the consequences for her sister, is a courageous one.

As the reader, we feel empathy for Anna who has endured a lifetime of tests, operations and procedures in the quest to stave off her sister’s death. We feel empathy for Kate, who is suffering from a terrible childhood disease with little hope of a happy outcome. We feel empathy for their brother, who feels like he has been overshadowed by his sister’s illness and we feel empathy for their parents, who are in the impossible situation of trying to consider the conflicting welfare interests of both daughters.

This book will have you thinking twice about the ongoing ethical debate with regards to ‘designer’ children.

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Categories: Impressions

Tags: adolescence, Anna, Bone marrow, books, fiction, jodi picoult, Kate, my sisters keeper, organ harvesting, Preimplantation genetic diagnosis