Book Review: "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult

Alyssa: I made the mistake of picking up this book to read on an overcast Saturday afternoon, because for the next 6 hours, I could not detach myself from the emotionally draining experience felt by each character and the moral and ethical debate that this book boldly confronts the reader with.

The book begins with a 13 year old girl's appointment of a lawyer to seek medical emancipation from her parents. Anna Fiztgerald, the main character, was conceived as a bone marrow donor for her older sister suffering from leukemia. For the next 13 years of her life, she felt like a provider of 'spare parts' depository to her dying sister. The book is narrated through the voices of different characters presenting their personal view points on the controversial issue raised by this book.

The following analogy sums up the issue that this book raises (quoting from Anna's mother's court submission): if a house was on fire and one of your children was in it - and the only opportunity to save that child was to send in his/her sibling because the sibling was the only one who knew the way. Do you send in the second child to try to save the first knowing that you could lose both? But if that was the only way to keep both children alive, would you risk it?

Have a box of Klennex handy. A fantastic read.