"reflective deep look at a family in crisis"
Thirteen year old Anna Fitzgerald knows why she was born
in vitro with a near perfect genetic match so that her
body can serve as spare parts to keep her older sister
Kate alive ever since her sibling was diagnosed with
leukemia. As Kate suffered numerous relapses, Anna's
platelets, bone marrow, and umbilical cord stem cells have
been used to keep the older sister alive. Their parents Sara and Brian demand that Anna donate a
kidney to Kate. As her older brother Jesse turns to arson
over his frustrations with his family's motto of Kate
only, Anna has grown tired of being a harvest. She hires
attorney Campbell Alexander to represent her in court in
an attempt to get a judgment stopping her parents from
using her body anymore. Sara, who is obsessed with
keeping her beloved Kate alive at all costs, feels
betrayed by her youngest child while her husband
understands the immense pressure on his youngest
daughter. Anna wants to help Kate because she loves her
sister, but knows that it must be her decision not a mom
who sees her as a biological feeder mechanism. MY SISTER'S KEEPER is a reflective deep look at a family
in crisis due to a long term health problem of one of the
members. The story line is at its best when Jodi Picoult
inspires readers to ponder intense philosophical questions
on right and wrong that would turn Ayn Rand's head
spinning in moral dilemmas. Though the melodramatic
ending is too neat a wrap-up even with a twist, readers
who appreciate a novel that provides a profundity that few
tales possess will want to peruse this thought provoking
drama. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted March 1, 2004
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