Review of Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper

Does a Child Have the Right to Make Their Own Medical Decisions?

Sep 11, 2009 Julie Ackendorf

Author Jodi Picoult explores the legal, ethical, and moral issues involving sibling organ donation and whether parents have the right to make the decision for the donor.

New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult is known for writing novels about controversial and ethical issues that captivate the reader. Her novel My Sister's Keeper was no exception to this tradition. Within the pages of the excellently written book the author explores whether or not a parent has the legal right to make all medical decisions for the child, particularly if the child will not benefit from a procedure.

Realistic Character Development

The characters within the novel My Sister's Keeperwere very well developed. Picoult was able to tap into the true emotions and actions of characters put into a family in which one of three children is battling a life threatening illness. The mother, Sara, is torn between taking care of her cancer stricken daughter and parenting her other two healthy children. Her time and energy is divided and her healthy children are unintentionally overlooked. The healthy son, Jesse, rebels in a way that he knows will attract the attention of his firefighter father and feels immense guilt over not being able to help his sister. The youngest child Anna has been a donor for her sister since the day she was born and battles with feeling of invisibility. The author builds characters up in a way that allows a reader to feel for them and understand them,

Exploring Designer Babies and Sibling Organ Donation

The main focus of this novel is whether Anna should be medically emancipated. When her older sister Kate fell ill at the age of two with a rare form of Leukemia, Anna's parents decided to create embryos in a lab and have them tested to see which would be a perfect match for organ donation for the toddler. Initially the only donation anticipated was blood from the baby's umbilical cord, but as years went on Anna had to donate platelets, bone marrow, and finally was asked to donate a kidney. The reader is led to believe that Anna does not want to donate her kidney and that is why she hires a lawyer to sue her parents for the rights to her own body.

Time Jumps Enhance the Novel

The author skips back and forth between flashbacks of Kate's illness and the lives of the family in that time and present day. These time jumps are well placed and help the reader better understand the family dynamics.

Story Written in First Person by All Characters

The entire book is written from the perspective of the characters. Some chapters are written by Anna, others by Sara, and still others by the father, lawyer, guardian ad litem, and even Kate herself. This allows the reader to see inside of the minds of the characters.

Overall, Jodi Picoult's novel My Sister's Keeper is a novel that will make a reader want to read it cover to cover in one sitting, it also makes the reader think about whether the decisions that seem best at the time are really the ones that are most humane for all involved. My Sister's Keeper is a great choice for a reader who wants a book that will expand their mind and challenge their emotions.

Resource:

Picoult, Jodi. My Sister's Keeper. Washington Square Press, 2005. ISBN: 0743454537

The copyright of the article Review of Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper in American Fiction is owned by Julie Ackendorf. Permission to republish Review of Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Review of Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper