Rating: 
Summary: Complex issues in a fascinating story
Review: Jodi Picoult has masterfully covered yet another controversial topic in her novel "My Sister's Keeper." This time, young Kate is diagnosed with a severe form of leukemia. Her parents then have a baby, Anna, who is genetically selected to be a close donor match for Kate. From her birth onward into her early teens, Anna is called upon to undergo increasingly invasive and dangerous procedures to provide blood, bone marrow, and other tissues to sustain her older sister's life. Now, a kidney is needed, and Anna brings a lawsuit against her parents, claiming the right to her make own decision about what medical procedures can be performed on her. Anna's mother Sara, an attorney, decides to represent her own daughter Kate at the trial.There are some very difficult questions raised in this story. Does Anna have the obligation to risk her own health to save her sister? Do her parents have the right to make the medical decisions about Anna's donor role, and where should their loyalties lie? Where is the fine line between what is legal and what is ethical in a situation like this? There seem to be no right or wrong answers here, and the ensuing trial recounts all the physical, moral, psychological, and familial struggles that are brought to bear on the issue. Picoult paints a powerfully emotional picture of a family in turmoil. She adds additional tension to the story through brother Jesse, whose drug taking and criminal tendencies add even more burdens to an already overwrought situation. The story also includes the love/hate relationship between Anna's lawyer and her legal guardian. The narrative switches from character to character so that the reader hears the voices of each family member, as well as that of Anna's lawyer and of the legal guardian appointed to watch out for her interests. Sara's narrative includes flashbacks on the history of Kate's illness, Anna's role in providing medical support, and the toll that the constant threat of Kate's death takes on the family. There are several shocking twists to the plot that make the story even more riveting. This is Picoult's best book yet! Eileen Rieback
Rating:
Summary: I reach for a tissue and there are nomore left......
Review: ... this book is trully amazing! I have read all of Picoults books, and although this one follows the same plot basis, it is exceptionally wonderful to the others. From the beginning all the way to the twists at the end. I could not stop turning the pages. It flows beautifully through everyones perspectives. I recommend this book to anyone. It will open your heart. Just keep a fresh tissue box at your side. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to Put Down
Review: Once I started reading this book I couldn't stop! Parts of it brought me to tears. This is another winner by Picoult. Debbie Farmer, parenting columnist and author of 'Don't Put Lipstick on the Cat!'
Rating:
Summary: Read this in two days
Review: This book was so wondferful, though I am a sucker for stories that pull at the heartstrings. I read this book in two days while raising a toddler, getting little sleep, and writing a thesis. It was one of those books I will never forget. I will admit it is tough at times, especially an event in the book that left me in tears. All in all I believe for all of the children and families suffering with chronic illness we owe it to them to read this, plus you will love it.
Rating:
Summary: True Page Turner
Review: From the first page Jodi Picoult had captured my attention. I picked up this book out of boredom and the need for a book for a school book review, and what I got was an amazing story of a family faced with decisions no one should ever have to make. We're first introduced to Anna, a 13 year old girl who is far from normal. Her life has been plagued by surgeries, transfusions, shots, and hospitalization. But she's completely healthy. She was conceived for the purpose of helping her sick sister, Kate. Throughout the book we begin to see how what seemed like such a logical and necessary decision isn't so black and white. We see the consequences such a decision can make. Picoult's changing of the point of view each chapter really helped make the story. It was essential to see what motivated each character to make the decisions they did and how it effected them. This book raised questions I have never thought to ask. It shows how nothing is very clear-cut in life. Basically, it really made me think.
Rating: 
Summary: Thoughtful. . . but
Review: "My Sister's Keeper" does raise questions in my mind, just like the it promises. They may not be the questions the author wanted you to ask. Anna is a thirteen year old girl who has healthy but has to donate her body to Kate, her sister, who has a rare form of leukemia. Anna was conceived only to help her older sister survive. When she is pushed to far, Anna fights back for the right to make her own choices abour her body. Her brother, Jesse has also had enough with his parents choices. He chooses to act out by setting fires, which ironically, his father (Brian) has to put out. Their father, Brian, is pushed into a hard position. He loves his children and his wife, but sometimes his wife seems only to care about one person in the family, Kate. When Anna decides to sue them, he moves out with her and the family unravels more. Sara, who in my opinion was a selfish women who only cared about Kate, no matter the consequences to her other children, was supposed to be a moving character. I thought she was unbearably horrible. The true question of the book was who would ever allow a women like that to become a parent? The "twist" int the end felt like the author's attempt to neatly rap up the book and show that Sara really did love Anna. However it fell flat and I was left with a disappointed feeling. The one you get when a book doesn't live up to your expectations.
Rating:
Summary: Great story!
Review: I was pulled into this story immediately because 13 year old Anna was so alive and thoughtful. I identified closely with her, but also with all the characters--Piccoult's switching between points of view helped flesh out the story and added a dimension that might have caused this story to degenerate into a good guy/bad guy tale. Instead, I knew all of these people and my heart ached for them. It's been a long, long time since a book made me cry...but this one did. I can highly recommend this one as a thought-provoking and worthwhile read.
Rating:
Summary: I Didn't Want it to End!!
Review: This book was riveting, touching and brilliantly written - I couldn't put it down! Jodi Picoult beautifully and skillfully tells the story of a close-nit family, that faces extreme tragedies and triumphs, based on the middle child's leukemia diagnosis at age 2 (the afflicted child, Kate is 16 when the story takes place). After she is diagnosed and needs a bone marrow transplant at age 2-2 1/2, her only other sibling (4 year Jesse) is not a suitable match. Her parents make a decision to conceive another baby who is genetically "engineered" to be a match for Kate. Most of the story takes place in the present, when the youngest sibling and donor, Anna, is now 13. She seeks legal representation when she decides (as far as the reader knows) that she wants medical emancipation from her parents, when she does not want to dontate a kidney to Kate, who is in renal failure at age 16. The story is told in flashbacks and we get to know this family as told from each of their perspectives, and get a heart-wrenching view of how devastating a child's illness is on an entire family. The legal, medical, psychological and familial aspects of genetic engineering and the moral/ethical questions that arise from it are geniously portrayed in this must read novel!!
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book except for the end
Review: Critical reviews of this book have complained that the characterization of Sara, the mother devoted to saving her sick child no matter the cost to her other children, was poorly done, but honestly I thought this was a very true picture of a woman obsessed, and one of the truest characters in the whole book, however narrow-minded. She has extreme tunnel vision, and her charater reflects that. I would have liked to have read more of how that did or did not change after the 'surprise ending.' The book is well-written and up until the end, a very enjoyable, just-one-more-chapter-before-bed read. My biggest complaint about the narration was that all the characters 'read' like adults. A nice feature of the story is that each chapter is told from a different point of view. Each character has it's own voice, but each voice seems to come with the same life experience. Anna, while a mature thirteen year old, often uses references and metaphors out of synch with her life experience. There is a girlishness to her, but she often comes off sounding thirty and not thirteen. My only other complaint was the ending, which might seem like a 'surprise' and and 'ingenius twist' to some, but really just struck me as a modern day 'deus ex machina' ending. Guess what, what you thought would happen didn't and what didn't think did, and no, we're just going to skip ahead to the future and gloss over the fall out. Maybe I just don't 'get it' but after reading such a carefully crafted book, the ending was rushed and it seemed to me that the author had this great 'twist' idea, but only after the first 98% of the book had been written. After all the building and deep writing, the almost shallow end disappoints. I will provide the disclaimer that I am the type of person who is often critical of endings in general, and some people might really enjoy it. However, I would still recommend the book. It's worth getting to the end, whether you like it or not.
Rating:
Summary: Heartachingly wonderful
Review: I discovered this book by accident while browsing. I had never heard of Jodi Picoult, but the title and the cover illustration caught my attention. As soon as I read the jacket blurb, I knew that I had to read this book. I started reading and before I knew it, the story was over and my kleenex box was empty. I suggested this book to the other women in my book club before my copy even arrived--I was positive that it was going to be something we needed to read, and so far we've all had the same reactions. The book draws you in and doesn't let go. By allowing almost all of the characters to narrate the chapters(notice the individual fonts for each character), you can really get a feeling for their personalities, with the exception of Kate (for reasons explained towards the end).
Ms. Picoult has listed some discussion questions on her website that are thought-provoking. There are more; is Anna's name indicative of her role? Are certain things in life pre-destined and therefore inescapable? Who are we to "play god", but where do we draw the line when it comes to helping our loved ones? With life, do we measure by quantity or quality? At the end of the story, you are left pondering the title. Is Anna or is Kate "My Sister's Keeper"?
| 
