My Sister's Keeper

The sickness or death of a child is a particularly sharp arrow to the average person’s heart.

But I think anyone who’s suffered the loss of a child, seen their child’s life in jeopardy, or is close to someone who’s been through one of those situations is even more sensitive to the topic. My heart and soul were battered from word one, but I had to read this book.

How far would a parent go to save her child? This story explored the question from many angles in a poignant way and left me in tears. I dare people to… show more.

This book kept me awake for days! A 13-year-old Kate, birthed to be the bone marrow donor for her older sister’s leukemia, has gone through countless painful medical procedures her whole life so her sister can survive. Then Kate decides to sue her parents for the rights to her own body.

The moral and ethical dilemmas in this novel are astronomical. Such a profound and moving decision that impacts everyone. Kate loves her family. And they, too, her. Yet her choice to forego future medical procedures that will eventually kill her sister is heartbreaking. 

An emotionally shocking yet riveting story,… show more.

This is my favorite fiction book.

It’s a story of a family caught up in an impossible dilemma, doing their best but failing because there is no right answer. But even more poignantly, it’s one of the best love stories ever written—the love that exists between two sisters who innately understand that in doing right by each other they must endure unrelenting misunderstanding and judgment, and even be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Like all good writing, the story unravels slowly, building suspense as you learn more about each character. And, it has the best ending I’ve ever read.… show more.

Possibly the best-known book revolving around organ donation, My Sister’s Keeper focusses on the ethics of living donations, and specifically whether thirteen-year-old Anna should be compelled to donate a kidney to her dying sister, Kate.

The courtroom drama and family dynamics may not be to everybody’s taste, but the central question – who gets to live, and at what cost – is a fascinating and important one.

Warning: the film version of this bestseller commits the most heinous of sins and changes the ending. 

I remember the shock and awe I experienced when I read this. I remember the tears.

Our book club discussed it for a good two hours; that’s how it is when you’re so emotionally involved and a book bomb revelation drops on you.

Highly recommended for those who love a well-crafted plot twist!

“It’s not fair!!!” That phrase was a staple of my vocabulary (and my sisters’) during our childhood. Which is why I was fascinated by a novel ripped from the headlines about parents who had deliberately conceived a sister for their ill daughter, in order to provide bone marrow and blood donations to keep the older sister alive. Put my childhood protests about fairness to shame. Picoult doesn’t shy away from the confusions and conflicts of growing up, not the normal sibling frustrations, or those of a family coping with an all-consuming illness. My favorite books take real stories and ask… show more.

Choices and the freedom to make them. Choices and the burden of making them. This is the crux of My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult which I first read in 2006 shortly after giving birth to my twin daughters. I was a blubbering, emotional mess by the time I finished it, but I immediately had to start over and reread it. 

What would I have done?  

What clues did I miss on the journey?

I wasn’t an author when I read My Sister’s Keeper, but I decided in that moment that if I was ever to write a book,… show more.