My Sister's Keeper

Author: Jodi Picoult
Recommended Age: Young Adult/ Adult
Publisher: Washington Square Press  
ISBN-10: 0743454537
ISBN-13: 978-0743454537
Year Published: 2004
No. Pages: 423
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Main Character Gender: Mixed
Read & Reviewed by: Natalie



"You know how most little kids think they're like cartoon characters- if an anvil drops on their head they can peel themselves off the sidewalk and keep going? Well, I never once believed that. How could I, when we practically set a place for Death at the dinner table?"

In the realistic fiction novel, My Sister's Keeper, thirteen-year-old Andromeda Fitzgerald (Anna, for short) is suing her parents for the rights to her own body. She has been an involuntary donor to her older sister, Kate, who has a rare form of leukemia, her entire life. After many failed attempts at finding a suitable donor for Kate, Anna’s parents, decide to have a specially designed child whose genes were made so that he/she could donate whatever Kate needed. Anna wants to free herself of the burden of Kate's health, so she decides to file a lawsuit to be medically emancipated. She is suing her parents for the rights to her own body, but she also wants to have a sister she can still talk to and play with without being yelled at for almost hurting her.

Near the beginning of the novel, Anna finds and visits a lawyer she wants to hire to represent her in court. There are many interesting characters involved in Anna's case, but Campbell Alexander, the man with the backwards name (“It sounds like a bar drink that costs too much, or a brokerage firm.”) is one of the most important. At first, Campbell shows no interest in helping Anna. But within a few chapters, Anna manages to win him over. Throughout the novel, Anna and Campbell become more-or -less friends. Campbell learns how messed-up Anna's family really is, and Anna learns the real reason Campbell has a service dog, even though he's clearly not blind. I loved the unlikely relationship between lawyer and client.

Jodi Picoult wrote each chapter in a different character's voice and I marveled at the way she could capture each character so well. The changing points of view helped me see every side to the problem. Sometimes, when I'm reading novels that are written from one character's point of view I start to agree with the one character, and don’t consider the other character's points of view. I loved how my opinion of Kate and Anna's scenario kept changing. The novel made me think and consider things that I would have previously dismissed as wrong. For example, in Campbell's perspective, Anna came in and asked him to help her sue her own parents. At first I thought that Anna was over-reacting or not going to follow through. But as the story continued, and Anna's opinions were explained, I started to feel that Anna was right and Sarah, her mom, was wrong. Then Sarah's point of view started to make sense, and nobody was right, but no one was wrong either. I liked how you could choose whom to believe and whom to blame.

Anna's father is a fire fighter and he uses his knowledge about fires to help him make sense of his situation at home, particularly the arguments between his daughter and his wife. I loved getting into his head and decoding the fire metaphors. The writing style of his narrative kept me on my toes and made me think.

Anna's mother used to be a lawyer. That works well for her, when she ends up representing herself in court. She is constantly concerned with Kate, and never has time for herself. Her overbearing parenting tactics backfire, as she and Anna grow farther and farther apart. I loved how, even though I have never been inside an overprotective mom's head, I felt as though I could understand her thoughts, motives, and ignorance to Anna's true desires.

Jesse Fitzgerald, Anna's older brother, is constantly ignored. He lights empty buildings on fire to rid himself of his anger towards his parents. The kid has issues that not even his parents notice, because of their focus on Kate, and, when needed, Anna. I felt as though Picoult could have taken more time with the small portion of the story that's written from Jesse's perspective. I think she could have tried harder to give the reader more insight into his character. Jesse's chapters were few and far between, and including more of his narration would have developed him more as a character.

Kate has had many near-death experiences, and sometimes wishes that one of them had taken her away. Kate and Anna are both very strong characters and I loved their closeness. It made me feel like the third sister, or the best friend, watching Kate confide in Anna, with their arms stretched between their beds, after their parents had gone to sleep.

Overall, I found Jodi Picoult to be an amazing writer. I had the end of the novel mapped out in my mind and thought I knew what was going to happen. But Picoult surprised me greatly with her sudden twist in plot. The jarring and unexpected conclusion left me dazed and confused. I never wanted the book to end. I rated this story infinity out of ten.