Book Report (Assignment #3) - My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult- My Sister's Keeper

(This picture shows Kate consoling Anna as they talk about Anna's big decision.)

    Often in life we have to make verdicts that we are never really sure are right or wrong. Even once the decision is made and the consequences are in effect, we still cannot decide if that was the right choice or not. In Jodi Picoult's book My Sister's Keeper, young Anna is forced to make a tough decision. Does she do as her sister asked and stop letter her parents use Anna as Kate's means of survival?

    This book relates to my life in the sense that my aunt is currently facing acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She was in need of a bone marrow transplant but only one of her siblings was a suitable match. Both of my aunts had a huge conclusion to come to. Should Aunt Roxanne accept Aunt Sandra’s bone marrow? Should Aunt Sandra donate her bone marrow? In the end they decided it could only help if Sandra gave Roxanne her bone marrow. The message I am attempting to convey here is that no decision is easy. We may think “Donating my organs etc. is an easy choice to make. If my family needs it, I will give it to them.” However, when you face this in reality it can be terrifying. You never know exactly how you will respond to a situation until you are facing it. In this case Anna had to sue her parents for her own legal medical rights because her younger sister asked that Anna live her life like a normal child and not be her living donor. Anna could have chosen to say no and continue to be the life line for Kate, but what life would either of them have always sharing a hospital rooms never knowing what it is like to be healthy? As humans, we tend to rush into decisions without adequate time to evaluate all of the consequences to them. We need to slow down and contemplate what the appropriate actions. Sometimes we have to hurt ourselves or others to please another and vise versa. In this novel Anna faces who she really is, Kate’s spare organs or her own being…Life is about finding ourselves. We never stop discovering who we are. Be content with who you are, but also be open to change.