My Sister’s keeper

This love story is unlike any other – it speaks of a parent’s love for their child, a love between sisters and a love for the freedom to live and die the way you choose. Kate, who has been diagnosed with leukemia from a young age is reliant on her sister, Anna, to keep her alive. Conceived with the intention of using her blood and marrow to keep her sister alive, Anna is a perfect donor match for Kate in all respects and spends much of her life in hospitals giving parts of herself to Kate. Over time, Anna becomes resentful of being a donor child and decides that enough is enough. After having undergone a numerous amount of medical procedures to benefit her older sister, Anna is asked to donate a kidney to Kate. Without this donation Kate will quickly die, but Anna refuses. She retains an attorney to sue her family to receive medical emancipation so that she will be free to make her own choices about her medical care. While some may think this is the most selfish thing they have ever heard, try not to judge until you read this fascinating story. Each chapter tells the story from a different perspective, with one chapter told by Anna, another by Kate, another by each of her parents, and another by Anna and Kate’s brother Jesse. This multiple story telling goes on throughout the entire story and allows the reader to really understand how Kate’s illness and her parent’s choices have affected each member of the family. Decisions that seemed selfish and morally wrong at first would start to be portrayed differently. This story also raises some important questions on medical ethics such as: How far one should go to save the life of a loved one? Is it morally acceptable to risk the life of one child to save another? By the end of the book you will find yourself wondering what your decisions would be if you were in the family. My Sister’s Keeper is a must read for anyone who enjoys a good story that provokes thought about the important things in life. Just be sure to keep that box of tissues handy as I can promise you that you will need them before you can even get past the first few chapters.