My Sister's Keeper

Hey Everyone,
So two weeks ago I finally got around to reading My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. This was after a whole summer of wanting to read the book because I saw the movie which was great and then heard that book was different and included more about the characters. And let me tell you the book was great. I think I took out from the school library on Thursday, then started reading it on Friday and by Sunday afternoon the book was finished. I think the book was over 400 pages, but it was so good and grabbed my attention so much that I never wanted to put it down. To give you guys a summary of the book I will write what was written on the back of the back.

WARNING: Possible spoilers in the summary and my opinion.

The summary from the book:
Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate — a life and a role that she has never challenged...until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister — and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves.
My Sister's Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child's life, even if that means infringing upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to discover who you really are, if that quest makes you like yourself less? Should you follow your own heart, or let others lead you? Once again, in My Sister's Keeper, Jodi Picoult tackles a controversial real-life subject with grace, wisdom, and sensitivity.

My opinion of book:
The book is amazing and at the same time it is incredibly sad. It is a huge tearjerker, especially the ending. Now I saw the movie a couple of months before I read the book and I know that they always change things from the book when they make movies but this was not what I was expecting. The movie left out the character of Julia, who I thought was sort of important to the storyline especially when it came to Campbell's storyline. Because when I read the book I was better able to understand the type of person that he was. Also in the book they talked about the trouble that Jesse was in and how he was starting fires in empty buildings, which was not talked about at all in the movie. The movie also completely changed the ending, because in the book Anna dies in a car crash while on her way from the court house to the hospital with Campbell after winning the case & signing some documents. She makes it to the hospital but when she gets there they discover that she hit her head very hard and is brain dead. The doctor comes out to ask her parents if they should remove her organs for donation, but her parents just stand there and Campbell steps in to says something like They don't have power of attorney, I do and there is a girl upstairs who needs that kidney. Kate then goes on to live because she got Anna's kidney. While in the movie after Anna wins the case, she doesn't give Kate the kidney because Kate doesn't want the kidney. As Kate nears her last days of life, and keeps asking to go to the beach the doctor suggests that they remove Kate from the hospital and grant her that wish. Her father takes Kate from the hospital and goes with the three children to the beach even though Sara (the mother) is not happy about that. In the end Kate ends up dying and the family just sort of drifts apart but once year they vacation to Kate's favorite place. However, there were some parts of the book where I was reading and it was word for word what was in the movie.

So even though the ending of the book was the total opposite of movie and I was super sad, I loved the book. And the movie was really good, but the book is like 1000000000000 times better. I think part of the reason I loved the book so much was because Jodi did a great job of writing the book from all the characters perspective. Well, she didn't include any chapters written by Kate until the end but I think that writing it from every one's view gave the readers a much better sense of what was going on.


Rating:



My next post will most likely be about Harry Potter, so check back soon. I hope to post something about Harry Potter or another book by the end of the week.