My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult Book Review
Get Ready for an Emotional Rollercoaster!
This is a genuinely riveting book classified as young adult fiction but suitable for all adults. The book is about a family called the Fitzgerald’s and really gives you food for thought. It follows the story of Anna. Anna is an average 13-year-old girl except that her life is far from ordinary. Anna is a genetically engineered baby. She was specifically designed as a genetic match to her sister Kate who is suffering with blood cancer (leukaemia). Anna was specifically created to donate blood and bone marrow to her sister, which raises ethical questions, and the story begins with Anna being pressurized by her parents to donate a kidney to Kate following other donations that spanned her entire childhood. The story involves Anna reaching a desperate point and decides to take her parents court to have the rights to her own body. It is quite a harrowing tale and when you finish it, you probably won’t have all the answers you’d like – such as what is right and what is wrong.
Anna’s Family, the Fitzgerald’s
Anna lives with her mother, father, sister Kate and brother Jesse. The story unfolds through the eyes of each of her family members, plus her lawyer and her guardian. Each character discusses their views on the lawsuit although the main crux of the story is told through Anna’s lawsuit. Despite what you might think upon reading this book review, the family is loving and close.
Genetic Engineering in Babies – Is It Wrong?
Over the years, Anna has endured bone marrow and stem cell removal to treat Kate’s condition. While Kate’s life has been saved for years, the book begins when Kate’s organs are failing, particularly her kidneys and the sisters’ parents Sara and Brian want Anna to donate one of her kidneys to her sister to save her life. Obviously, the process is painful, traumatic, and problematic and Anna has already spent much of her life using her body to help her sister, in and out of hospital, missing out on “normal” childhood and teenage years. Anna seeks the help of an attorney, Campbell Alexander to represent her because she no longer wants to use her body to save her sister, due to the trauma it causes her. She has spent her whole life as a form of medication for her sister and feels she cannot continue to do so. Her mother especially feels angry and betrayed by the lawsuit and even more so when her father, Brian takes Anna’s side agreeing that his daughter has done enough to help Kate over the years.
Get Ready for an Emotional Rollercoaster! This is a genuinely riveting book classified as young adult fiction but suitable for all adults. The book is about a family called the Fitzgerald’s and really gives you food for thought. It follows the story of Anna. Anna is an average 13-year-old girl except that her life is…