Halie Friesen
M. Link
Inclusive Approaches to Teaching Exceptional Students
17 March, 2013

My Sister’s Keeper

My Sister’s Keeper is a fictional novel by Jodi Picoult. This novel follows the life of a family effected by cancer. Through the use of different narrators, My Sister’s Keeper shows the different effects of cancer and the moral dilemmas on the various narrators. The narrators always use first person, this combined with the character’s voice allows the reader to begin to understand the complexities of each character. 

Anna is the youngest of three children and the main protagonist in the book. She was born because her older sister, Kate, has cancer and needs a donor who matches her genes perfectly. Her whole life has been a series of blood and bone marrow extractions and painful surgeries to help her sister. The story begins with Anna making an appointment with Campbell Alexander, a lawyer with the highest success rate in town. When asked why she is seeking legal advice, Anna states that she wants medical emancipation; the ability to make her own decisions about her body. Kate needs a kidney and Anna is the only one who can give it to her, this request brings on the legal action. 

Anna’s parents, Sara and Brian, are shocked when they are served the legal papers. Their reactions throughout their narrations show how different they are as a couple. Sara is obsessed with keeping Kate alive, while at the same time neglecting Anna and Jesse’s emotional needs. Brian on the other hand tries his best to make rational decisions that are not only for Kate’s benefit. This eventually leads to Anna living with Brian at his firehouse to get away from the hostile environment at home. 

Jesse, the oldest child and only boy got to live four years of his life without the word cancer. When Kate was diagnosed, Jesse was tested to see if he could be a match for transplants. Since they were not compatible, Anna was engineered to be a perfect match. Jesse is often ignored and acts out in an attempt to gain attention. He smokes, drinks, and starts fires. As the story goes on, his fires get bigger and bigger, symbolizing the growth of the main problem in the story. 

Campbell Alexander is a lawyer with a secret. He has a service dog but when anyone asks him why his responses are sarcastic or mysterious. Eventually we find out that he has epilepsy. His character develops once he realizes that his condition is not a sign of weakness, but rather one of strength. 

The story follows the build up to the court case through the eyes of the different characters while dealing with Kate’s deteriorating condition. Past relationships are explored, as well as developing ones. My Sister’s Keeper highlights the issues that follow childhood sickness, especially the effects on siblings. Even as Kate gets sicker and sicker, Anna refuses to drop the case. This leads to increased tension between Sara, Anna, and Brian. Sara and Brian’s marital issues are brought into the open and Anna stays with Brian. As more and more attention is paid to Kate and Anna, Jesse increases his delinquent behaviour. Throughout the Fitzgerald’s family problems, Campbell reignites his past relationship with Anna’s appointed guardian Julia. The two dated in high school but because of Campbell’s epilepsy, he broke it off so that he would not have to tell her. 

The trial marks the climax of the story, with both Campbell and Sara, who quit practicing law when Kate was diagnosed, questioning witnesses. Once it is finally Anna’s turn at the stand, she confesses the real reason for the trial, Kate told her that she was tired of living. Kate did not want Anna’s kidney, but due to the nature of Sara, a trial was necessary. Anna also confesses that she wants freedom over her life, even though she loves her sister. Eventually Anna is granted medical emancipation and gives Campbell power of attorney. A warning for all potential readers, the book and the movie have very different endings. The family goes to the hospital to visit Kate and say their last goodbyes. Campbell and Anna get into a serious car accident on the way and Anna is seriously injured. We find out that she has irreversible brain damage and will never recover. This leads to Anna’s kidney being given to Kate and the Fitzgerald’s losing a child, but not the one that they expected. 

As a younger sister, this book made me question some things. My sister and I are incredibly close and I would like to think that I could do anything for her. However, I have never had to do anything for her that has affected me in the way that Anna would have been affected by giving Kate her kidney. Anna wanted to play hockey, but the risks involved would have been too high with only kidney. Hockey has been a large part of my life since I was six, so I understood that Anna’s feelings of loss had more to do with the thought of being “disabled” and fragile than the actual hockey itself. Sports give you an outlet, and the thought of that outlet being taken away is uncomfortable. 

I enjoyed this book in a bittersweet way. The character’s relationships are so complex and truly show a variety of human responses and emotions. It reminded me of my family’s various reactions to my Oma being in the hospital for an extended period of time. Obviously it’s different than having a child or sibling in the hospital but human emotions follow similar patterns during loss. Picoult does a fantastic job of developing the characters so that the reader is able to empathize and relate. 

My Sister’s Keeper examines the complex relationships and decisions that face a community affected by cancer. Without focusing on the actual patient, we are able to get a first hand experience of how people react in different ways. I would recommend this book to anyone that wants to read an engaging book that causes refection.