Book
My sister's keeper : a novel / Jodi Picoult.
Summary:
Record details
- ISBN: 9780743454537
- Physical Description: x, 423 pages ; 21 cm
- Publisher: New York : Washington Square Press, 2005.
- Copyright: ©2004.
Content descriptions
- General Note:
- Includes a readers' club guide."Emily Bestler Books."
Search for related items by subject
- Subject:
- Sisters > Fiction.
Teenage girls > Fiction.
Leukemia > Patients > Fiction.
Organ donors > Fiction.
Sick children > Fiction.
Mothers and daughters > Fiction. - Genre:
- Domestic fiction.
Available copies
- 28 of 32 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Fort St. James Public Library.
Holds
- 1 current hold with 32 total copies.
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort St. James Public Library | PIC (Text) | 35196000160957 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2004 January
/*Starred Review*/ Expect to be kept up all night by Picoult's latest novel, but it's much more than a page-turner; it's a fascinating character study framed by a complex, gripping story. Thirteen-year-old Anna Fitzgerald walks into the office of lawyer Campbell Alexander and announces she wants to sue her parents for the rights to her own body. Anna was conceived after her older sister, Kate, developed a rare form of leukemia at the age of two, and has donated bone marrow and blood to her sister. Now she has been asked to donate a kidney, and she intends to refuse. Campbell is a jaded young man who nevertheless decides to take her case pro bono. Anna's parents are shocked when they learn of her lawsuit, and her mother, a former civil defense attorney, decides to represent them. Anna refuses to budge on her position despite the fact that she clearly loves her sister and longs for her family's happiness. As the gripping court case builds, the story takes a shocking turn. Told in alternating perspectives by the engaging, fascinating cast of characters, Picoult's novel grabs the reader from the first page and never lets go. This is a beautiful, heartbreaking, controversial, and honest book. ((Reviewed January 1 & 15, 2004)) Copyright 2004 Booklist Reviews. - BookPage Reviews : BookPage Reviews 2004 April
Keeper of the fateMost people spend their lives seeking to understand the purpose of their existence. Thirteen-year-old Anna Fitzgerald, the protagonist of Jodi Picoult's latest novel, has never for a moment questioned hers: she is the genetically perfect "match" brought into the world to keep her leukemia-stricken sister Kate alive. Physically and emotionally depleted from life in the shadow of her sibling's illness, the strong-willed Anna lashes back at the parents who conceived her out of desperation, not desireâshe sues them for the medical rights to her own body.
Poetic treatment of prickly topics is the trademark of Picoult, whose past bestsellers address such topics as statutory rape and teen suicide. Alternately narrated by each of its major characters, My Sister's Keeper revolves around Anna and the life-altering consequences of her very adult decision. As the novel begins, the courageous teenager enlists the legal assistance of Campbell Alexanderâa relentless cynic known for suing Godâwho soon serves the subpoena that splinters the Fitzgerald family. Mother Sara, who gave up her law practice to render round-the-clock care to Kate, comes to her dying daughter's defense, while husband Brian sides with Anna.
With the trial date drawing near, and Kate on the verge of kidney failure, Anna teeters on an emotional tightrope. How can she reject the person who has defined her from day one? At the hospital, Anna climbs into Kate's bed and rests her head on her chest: "I didn't come to see Kate because it would make me feel better," she says. "I came because without her, it's hard to remember who I am."
Hope and heartbreak fill the pages of My Sister's Keeper, which Picoult describes as a sort of Sophie's Choice for the new millennium. "If you use one of your children to save the life of another," the author asks, "are you being a good mother . . . or a very bad one?" Blending science, philosophy, morality and ethics, this is a thought-provoking thriller that grips and won't let go.
Allison Block reviews from Solana Beach, California. Copyright 2004 BookPage Reviews.
- BookPage Reviews : BookPage Reviews 2009 June
Keeper of the fateMost people spend their lives seeking to understand the purpose of their existence. Thirteen-year-old Anna Fitzgerald, the protagonist of Jodi Picoult's latest novel, has never for a moment questioned hers: she is the genetically perfect "match" brought into the world to keep her leukemia-stricken sister Kate alive. Physically and emotionally depleted from life in the shadow of her sibling's illness, the strong-willed Anna lashes back at the parents who conceived her out of desperation, not desire she sues them for the medical rights to her own body.
Poetic treatment of prickly topics is the trademark of Picoult, whose past bestsellers address such topics as statutory rape and teen suicide. Alternately narrated by each of its major characters, My Sister's Keeper revolves around Anna and the life-altering consequences of her very adult decision. As the novel begins, the courageous teenager enlists the legal assistance of Campbell Alexander a relentless cynic known for suing God who soon serves the subpoena that splinters the Fitzgerald family. Mother Sara, who gave up her law practice to render round-the-clock care to Kate, comes to her dying daughter's defense, while husband Brian sides with Anna. With the trial date drawing near, and Kate on the verge of kidney failure, Anna teeters on an emotional tightrope. How can she reject the person who has defined her from day one? At the hospital, Anna climbs into Kate's bed and rests her head on her chest: "I didn't come to see Kate because it would make me feel better," she says. "I came because without her, it's hard to remember who I am."
Hope and heartbreak fill the pages of My Sister's Keeper, which Picoult describes as a sort of Sophie's Choice for the new millennium. "If you use one of your children to save the life of another," the author asks, "are you being a good mother . . . or a very bad one?" Blending science, philosophy, morality and ethics, this is a thought-provoking thriller that grips and won't let go.
Allison Block reviews from Solana Beach, California.
This review refers to the novel's hardcover edition.
Watch the trailer for the film:
Copyright 2009 BookPage Reviews. - Criticas Online Reviews : Criticas Reviews 2008 March 15th
Imagine that you were conceived to be the donor of bone marrow and platelets for your older sister, who has a rare form of cancer. Imagine what it would be like to grow up in a family where everyone is constantly aware of one child's deadly illness, so that all decisions must be filtered through what will work for her treatment or her most recent medical emergency. How can a 12-year-old decide against donating a kidney to her older sister? By having this story narrated by each character in turn, Picoult shows readers the dilemmas facing everyone involved: from Anna, the child who sues her parents for medical emancipation; to Sara, the mother who loves all three of her children but must devote continual attention to the daughter with cancer; and to Jesse, the son who has abandoned hope of ever being noticed by his parents. [LJ 15/03/04] Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2004 January #2
Picoult's latest chronicle of family travail (Second Glance, 2003, etc.) highlights the consequences of deliberately conceiving a child genetically compatible with a mortally ill sibling.The author vividly evokes the physical and psychic toll a desperately sick child imposes on a family, even a close and loving one like the Fitzgeralds. Picoult's plotting, though, is less sure, as an inherently somber tale morphs into a melodrama with a too-neat twist. Anna Fitzgerald, the 13-year-old who begins the story, was conceived in vitro, and her embryo's genetic makeup closely matched that of her sister Kate. Now 16, Kate was diagnosed at 2 with acute promyelocytic leukemia. In the years that followed she has suffered numerous relapses, despite the infusion of Anna's platelets and bone marrow, even stem cells from her sister's umbilical cord. Their parents, Sara and Brian, now want Anna to give Kate one of her kidneys; compromised by her drastic treatments, Kate's organs are shutting down. Instead, Anna contacts attorney Campbell Alexander and asks him to represent her; she wants her parents to stop using her body to help Kate. Like elder brother Jesse, who's turned his angst into arson and general bad-boy behavior, she has spent her life in the shadow of her sister's illness-one year Kate had to be hospitalized on every holiday. Sara, who has made keeping Kate alive her life's mission, is very angry, but Brian initially takes Anna's side, feeling too much has been asked of her. A hearing is scheduled, though Anna is torn between her affection for Kate and what she feels must be done. As the hearing begins Kate is hospitalized, Jesse's arson is discovered, and Anna initially refuses to testify. There can be no easy outcomes in a tale about individual autonomy clashing with a sibling's right to life, but Picoult thwarts our expectations in unexpected ways.Despite overplotting, then, a telling portrait of a profoundly stressed family.Agent: Laura Gross Copyright Kirkus 2004 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2004 March #2
Imagine that you were conceived to be the donor of bone marrow and platelets for your older sister, who has a rare form of cancer. Imagine what it would be like to grow up in a family where everyone is constantly aware of one child's deadly illness, so that all decisions must be filtered through what will work for her treatment or her most recent medical emergency. How can a 12-year-old decide against donating a kidney to her older sister? By having this story narrated by each character in turn, Picoult (Second Glance) shows readers the dilemmas facing everyone involved: from Anna, the child who sues her parents for medical emancipation; to Sara, the mother who loves all three of her children but must devote continual attention to the daughter with cancer; and to Jesse, the son who has abandoned hope of ever being noticed by his parents. Picoult's timely and compelling novel will appeal to anyone who has thought about the morality of medical decision making and any parent who must balance the needs of different children. Highly recommended.-Kim Uden Rutter, Lake Villa Dist. Lib., IL Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2004 February #3
The difficult choices a family must make when a child is diagnosed with a serious disease are explored with pathos and understanding in this 11th novel by Picoult (Second Glance, etc.). The author, who has taken on such controversial subjects as euthanasia (Mercy), teen suicide (The Pact) and sterilization laws (Second Glance), turns her gaze on genetic planning, the prospect of creating babies for health purposes and the ethical and moral fallout that results. Kate Fitzgerald has a rare form of leukemia. Her sister, Anna, was conceived to provide a donor match for procedures that become increasingly invasive. At 13, Anna hires a lawyer so that she can sue her parents for the right to make her own decisions about how her body is used when a kidney transplant is planned. Meanwhile, Jesse, the neglected oldest child of the family, is out setting fires, which his firefighter father, Brian, inevitably puts out. Picoult uses multiple viewpoints to reveal each character's intentions and observations, but she doesn't manage her transitions as gracefully as usual; a series of flashbacks are abrupt. Nor is Sara, the children's mother, as well developed and three-dimensional as previous Picoult protagonists. Her devotion to Kate is understandable, but her complete lack of sympathy for Anna's predicament until the trial does not ring true, nor can we buy that Sara would dust off her law degree and represent herself in such a complicated case. Nevertheless, Picoult ably explores a complex subject with bravado and clarity, and comes up with a heart-wrenching, unexpected plot twist at the book's conclusion. (Apr.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information. - School Library Journal Reviews : SLJ Reviews 2005 January
Adult/High School-Anna was genetically engineered to be a perfect match for her cancer-ridden older sister. Since birth, the 13-year-old has donated platelets, blood, her umbilical cord, and bone marrow as part of her family's struggle to lengthen Kate's life. Anna is now being considered as a kidney donor in a last-ditch attempt to save her 16-year-old sister. As this compelling story opens, Anna has hired a lawyer to represent her in a medical emancipation suit to allow her to have control over her own body. Picoult skillfully relates the ensuing drama from the points of view of the parents; Anna; Cambell, the self-absorbed lawyer; Julia, the court-appointed guardian ad litem; and Jesse, the troubled oldest child in the family. Everyone's quandary is explicated and each of the characters is fully developed. There seems to be no easy answer, and readers are likely to be sympathetic to all sides of the case. This is a real page-turner and frighteningly thought-provoking. The story shows evidence of thorough research and the unexpected twist at the end will surprise almost everyone. The novel does not answer many questions, but it sure raises some and will have teens thinking about possible answers long after they have finished the book.-Susan H. Woodcock, Fairfax County Public Library, Chantilly, VA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information. - Voice of Youth Advocates Reviews : VOYA Reviews 2004 December
With organ transplants taking on increased significance in the news, this novel provides a timely examination of the ethical issues surrounding living donors, in particular those children specifically conceived to provide donor material for terminally ill siblings. Thirteen-year-old Anna has always known that she was born to save her sister Kate's life, and invariably goes along with her parents' and the doctors' requests. Now Kate needs a kidney, however, and Anna suddenly hires a lawyer to sue her parents for medical rights to her own body. In a way, this story is simple, with legal proceedings that move forward quickly. At the same time, however, it slowly explores the family's complex relationships by alternating surprisingly effective first-person narration from almost every character's viewpoint Why might this novel appeal to young adults? It creates genuine suspense, with life-and-death stakes and some unexpected developments. And although Anna's voice is unusually mature for her age, she contemplates many of her peer group's normal concerns, such as boys, sports, and personal freedom. In spite of some manipulative coincidences and contrived metaphors (such as Anna's father's reflections on his work as a firefighter), this book provides the sort of emotionally satisfying reading experience that young women might crave. Libraries that already have this book in their adult fiction collections might wish to add a copy for teens. At the very least, librarians should consider steering teen patrons, particularly those who enjoy Lurlene McDaniel's novels about terminal illness, in Picoult's direction.-Amy Sisson 4Q 4P S A/YA Copyright 2004 Voya Reviews.