***** Ages 14 up? Some cursing and...adult content. ;) I just finished this book about fifteen minutes ago, and then five minutes later proceeded to stare at the book in horror while tears welled up in my eyes. That's about the closest I come to crying. I was pretty much the only person at my middle school graduation that didn't cry. I found it funny. But this book....Heartbreaking. Tear jerking. Moving. Poignant, Touching, Tragic, Beautiful, terrible.
Summary from B&N:
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.
Well, that's pretty vague. Basically, Anna sues her parents for the rights to her own body - medical emancipation - when they want her to donate a kidney for her sister Kate who is dying of acute something leukemia.
It's a very complex story, and the reader doesn't know every aspect of the story and lawsuit. Anna has hidden reasons for the lawsuit that aren't known until the end of the book, and it will surprise you.
The POV alternates between Anna; the main character, Sara; her mom, Brian; her dad, Jesse; her brother, Campbell; her lawyer/attorney, and Julia; her guardian ad litem - she is brought in to see what the best choice is for Anna and her family. Each of the characters have such a developed backstory that it is conceivable to think that they had lives before Jodi Picoult weaved them into this story.
Sara's POV mostly consists of flashbacks starting from when Kate is diagnosed leading up to the present, which really explains Anna's past 'donations' and Sara's choices.
Anna is a very realistic character, wondering about things I wondered about when I was 13, like what age are we in heaven and more. She is mature but still a kid, and I felt such sympathy for her sometimes, like when she is not allowed to go to this really prestigious hockey camp with an Olympic champion trainer with a full schlorship just 'in case'. In case Kate is sick again, in case Anna is needed to give up another part of her body for her.
Brian's POV shows his uncertainty about Anna's decision: he kind of supports her and her rights, but hates to see this tearing apart his family. We also get to see Jesse's POV, and observe his life as the forgotten sibling: not the sick one or the needed one.
My favorite character was actually Campbell. He had a great stinging sense of humor and sarcasm and had that whole mystery going on with Judge, his service dog. Every few chapters he would be asked what Judge if for because "You're not blind." He always had some funny retort, and I wanted to know just as bad as his inquisitors. His History with Julia and their relationship was also another aspect of the book I enjoyed.
All the characters developed and grew and learned about each other and become closer. (I know, a serious need for commas in that sentence). They were my favorite part. Also, since we don't read from Kate's POV, we don't actually know how she feels until the end.
OH, THE ENDING! In the words of Draco Malfoy in the Prisoner of Azkaban, "Oh, it's killed me! It's killed me!" <-That's only 'cause you were idiotic and arrogant and confronted poor Buckbeak. Ok, back on the topic. I almost cried. Most people bawl, I've heard. It was a twist, for the book, and for my heart. In the back of the book, the author writes that after reading it her son wouldn't talk to her except to say "WHY?!?!" I wasn't expecting it, and ... I can't really say more without spoiling the whole book.
SO...go read this book, about a family that is broken apart by a terminal disease but manages to glue itself back together again, all the while learning and discovering new things about each other and people's limits.
P.S. I haven't watched the movie (my mom can't handle watching anything about children that are dying, kidnapped, in a bad situation) so I don't know about plot discrepancies between book to movie.
