My Sister's Keeper
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 Hardback cover for My Sister's Keeper |
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| Author | Jodi Picoult |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Atria |
| Released | April 6, 2004 |
| Media type | Print ( Hardcover & Paperback ) |
| Pages | 432 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-7434-5452-9 |
| Preceded by | Second Glance (2003) |
| Followed by | Vanishing Acts (2005) |
My Sister’s Keeper (2004), by Jodi Picoult, is a novel about a young girl who sues her parents for the right to make her own decisions about how her body is used when a kidney transplant is planned in order to potentially save her older sister.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
Anna was conceived by in vitro fertilization so that she would be a genetic match for her older sister Kate, who was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia when she was 2 years old. When Anna was born, her cord blood was donated to her sister, but when the leukemia returned she then had to donate blood and bone marrow. When Kate's kidneys fail Anna is expected to donate a kidney to save her sister, but she hires a lawyer to be medically emancipated from her parents and gain the right to make the decision for herself. Her lawyer, Campbell Alexander, works for her pro bono.
At the end of the book it is revealed that the reason Anna initiated the lawsuit was because her sister didn't want her to donate the kidney. After the trial she is granted medical emancipation but, just as Anna is about to reveal her decision, she dies unexpectedly of a closed-head injury suffered in a car crash. As Campbell Alexander has power of attorney over Anna's medical decisions he grants the use of Anna's kidney for her sister Kate. In the epilogue of the book we see that Kate survived the transplant, even though the doctors thought she might be too weak to survive. Kate believes that the reason she survived is because Anna took her place in heaven.
[edit] Characters
The book is narrated by seven different characters, six of whom narrate the main story, with Kate (the central character) narrating the epilogue and the prologue (although until the end of the book the reader is intended to be under the impression that Anna has written the prologue).
- Anna Fitzgerald was genetically engineered and conceived by IVF. She was born to provide a genetic match for her sister. She files a lawsuit against her parents for medical emancipation.
- Jesse Fitzgerald is Anna and Kate's brother. Throughout the book we see him as a troubled child who starts a series of fires, takes drugs and steals cars.
- Sara Fitzgerald is the mother of Anna, Kate and Jesse. She is a former lawyer and when Anna starts the lawsuit she decides to represent herself.
- Brian Fitzgerald is the father of Anna, Kate and Jesse. Brian is a firefighter and has a love for astronomy. He named Anna after the Andromeda Galaxy.
- Campbell Alexander, Anna's lawyer. He has a seizure-alert dog named Judge, but hides the dog's purpose until near the end of the book. He was in a car accident when he was young which caused him to have epilepsy.
- Julia Romano is Anna's guardian ad litem for the trial. She is also the ex-girlfriend of Campbell Alexander and there is a subplot concerning their relationship.
[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
- According to the author's Website There are plans by New Line Cinema to turn My Sister's Keeper into a feature film, to be released sometime in 2008.
[edit] External links
- Interview with Jodi Picoult in which she talks about research done for books, her career as an author, and what she likes to do when no one is around at home.LoadedShelf.10/06
- My Sister's Keeper at the author's site
