My Sister's Keeper (novel)
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 Hardcover | |
| Author | Jodi Picoult |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Atria |
Publication date | April 6, 2004 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print ( Hardcover & Paperback ) |
| Pages | 432 pp |
| ISBN | 0-7434-5452-9 |
| OCLC | 54811160 |
| 813/.54 22 | |
| LC Class | PS3566.I372 M9 2004 |
My Sister's Keeper is a novel written by Jodi Picoult in 2004 that tells the story of 13 year old, Anna, who sues her parents for medical emancipation when she is expected to donate a kidney to her sister Kate who is dying from leukemia.
Plot summary
My Sister's Keeper is a novel by Jodi Picoult. The story is about the life of 13-year-old Anna Fitzgerald, who enlists the help of an attorney, Campbell Alexander, to sue her parents, Brian and Sara Fitzgerald for rights to her own body. Kate Fitzgerald, Anna's older sister, suffers from leukemia; whose parents conceived Anna through IVF, to help save Kate's life when she first falls ill. They use Anna's cord blood and through treatment, it works- until Kate relapses again and again. So Anna decides to petition for medical emancipation so she will not have to be a donor unless she wants to.
Her parents, Brian and Sara Fitzgerald, have different reactions to the lawsuit. Brian has mixed feelings whereas Sara feels that Anna should donate the kidney to save Kate's life. Sara is an ex-lawyer and decides to represent herself and her husband in the suit. She continually attempts to get Anna to drop the suit, but Anna refuses and moves out of the house and into the fire station where her father works.
After Kate's cancer diagnosis, Jesse Fitzgerald, Brian and Sara's oldest child, grows up to be a troublemaker involved in alcohol, drugs, theft, and arson. Throughout the book an arsonist frequently sets fires in the area, a problem for Brian (who is a fireman) and his colleagues. After following the clues, Brian discovers that the arsonist is Jesse. Consequently, Brian confronts Jesse and learns how badly Kate's illness has affected him. Brian vows to keep Jesse's arson a secret. Jesse eventually straightens himself out and becomes a police officer.
The judge at the hearing, Judge DeSalvo, is a parent who lost her 12-year-old daughter, Dena, in a drunk-driving accident. The guardian ad litem assigned to Anna as her representative is Julia Romano, an old girlfriend of Campbell's.
Julia and Campbell met in a private high school. She was a scholarship student from a poor background while he was a rich kid. They fell in love and enjoyed a relationship until Campbell broke up with her at graduation. Julia never knew the reason but felt it was because of her social class. Although they try to conduct court business professionally, their attraction to one another is apparent.
Campbell has a service dog, named Judge, to aid him with his disability. He keeps the purpose of the dog a secret and gives frivolous answers to any questions about the dog's purpose. Feeling abandoned again, Julia is frustrated with her relationship with Campbell. However, when Campbell has a seizure during Anna's testimony, the purpose of the dog is revealed: he is a seizure dog. She discovers that Campbell developed epilepsy after a wreck before graduation, and he broke up with her because he did not want to be a burden. Julia supports him, and they reunite. They eventually marry.
Campbell and Sara bring in their witnesses and battle over whether Anna is mature enough for medical emancipation. Julia, who is supposed to deliver a report about who she thinks should win the case, is undecided. Anna, who has refused to testify, is the last witness to speak. She reveals that Kate told her that she did not want Anna to go through with the transplant, which was why Anna filed the lawsuit. The judge decides in favor of Anna and gives Campbell medical power of attorney over her.
Soon after she is medically emancipated from her parents, Anna is involved in a car accident and left brain dead. Brian and Sara turn off her respirator. Her kidneys, and other organs, are donated to Kate, and other patients that might need them.
Kate believes that the reason she survived is because someone had to go, and Anna took her place. Whenever she misses her sister, she will look at the scars from the kidney transplant, and believes she takes Anna wherever she goes.
Film adaptation
New Line Cinema turned My Sister's Keeper into a feature film, released on June 26, 2009. Nick Cassavetes directed it.[1][2] It starred Cameron Diaz as Sara and Alec Baldwin as Campbell. Kate and Anna were played respectively by Sofia Vassilieva and Abigail Breslin.[2]
The film, with an alternate ending and more emphasis on certain subplots while entirely eliminating others, has significant differences from the novel.
Critique
In a Washington Post review, Katherine Arie described the book as "a thrill to read", however, some characters are "unconvincing" for her, such as Brian, who is "too good to be true", Jesse, "a poster child for self-destructive behavior" and Kate, who is "as weak and wispy on the page as she's supposed to be in life". [citation needed]
References
- ^ "Questions and Answers". Jodi Picoult.com. March 2, 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-21.
- ^ a b Fleming, Michael (2008-02-12). "Breslin, Vassilieva to star in 'Keeper'. Duo replaces Fanning sisters in New Line film". Variety. Retrieved 2008-02-13.