My Sister’s Keeper

By Jodi Picoult (2005)

Contemporary Fiction

"If you have a sister and she dies, do you stop saying you have one? Or are you always a sister, even when the other half of the equation is gone?” 

While many young adults are struggling to find a purpose, Anna is not. She knows hers.

Anna’s sister, Kate, has been battling leukemia since she was young and when her parents realized she would need continual transfusions and bone marrow transplants they decided to conceive a perfect genetic match – Anna. From the beginning her identity is defined by her sister and the terrible disease she is fighting. For years she has accepted this role but now, quite frankly, she is sick of it. What lengths will Anna's parents go to save Kate? What lengths will Anna go to to make her life her own?

This tender story of family, devotion, and sisterly love brings to light a whole list of moral and ethical dilemmas. Does Anna have the right to make these choices about her own body?  Even though she’s only 13? Even though the choice she makes could very likely determine the fate of her sister?

“Maybe who we are isn’t so much what we do, but rather what we’re capable of when we least expect it.”

Note: This book was created for a more mature audience.  The characters are deep and there is a lot of ethical and moral debate taking place. I would say upper high school students (maybe 17 – 20+) would be able to have some great discussions centering around this book.


Another Note: This is one of my all time favorite books. Read it.