My Sister's Keeper

by Jodi Picoult
Critically acclaimed Jodi Picoult zeroes in on the issue of human genetic engineering in her book My Sister’s Keeper. It’s a powerful story about the Fitzgeralds, a family united in their love for each other but divided on where the boundaries of family obligations, love and sacrifice should end.

Anna Fitzgerald was genetically designed, conceived, and born to be the perfect genetic match for her sister, Kate. Kate suffers from a rare form of childhood leukemia and will die without blood and bone marrow transfusions from Anna. At 13, when Kate needs a kidney, Anna decides she has had enough. She hires an attorney and sues her parents for the rights to her own body. As her case works its way through the intricate legal system, things at home fall apart for the Fitzgeralds. Their father, a firefighter, is torn between the competing needs of his children. Their mother, an attorney who retired when she had children, struggles to hold the family together and keep Kate alive at all costs.

Picoult did an amazing job of presenting the dilemma. She takes the issue and handles it with compassion and sensitivity. Read this book and you will probably never be indifferent on issues, such as stem cell research.

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