English Book Report

"My Sisters Keeper" By Jodi Picoult

This was my second time to read this book, and I love it as much as the first time!!

This book tells the story of Kate and Anna Fitzgerald, two sisters who share so much with each other. When Kate was 2, she was diagnosed with APL, Acute promyelocytic leukaemia, which is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. When she was diagnosed with APL, Dr.Chance the oncologist did tests with Kate's brother Jesse to see if he was a donor match, but he wasn't, and neither were her parents. He asked Kate's parents Brian and Sara had they ever thought about having another child. He told them that they could have another child that would be a perfect genetic match for Kate, through genetic modification, and also that umbilical blood is the most effective type of blood to help save Kate’s life.

Anna has always helped Kate through her sickness. She has given blood and bone marrow and whatever else her sister needs, until Anna is asked to donate a kidney. She has decided that she doesn’t want to do it anymore. Her brother Jesse brings her into meet a lawyer, Campbell Alexander. Campbell has agreed to take on Anna’s case to be medically emancipated from her parents and to have the rights to her own body even though she has no money to pay him.

While Anna is in the hospital with her mom Sara and Kate, her mom is presented with the legal documents from Campbell Alexander. Sara, Brian and Anna sit down to talk about it when Anna tells them that she didn’t want to do it anymore, saving Kate’s life.

The rest of the book is a mixture of the present day and the past. Each character has their own chapter.

Anna’s tells of her present day life. She tells of her struggle with dealing with the court case and how she moves into the fire station with her dad. She talks about how she met Julia Romano and Campbell Alexander and all her memories with Kate. Anna also tells us about how she had started playing hockey for a local team when she was accepted on a full scholarship to a summer hockey camp for a few weeks, but her mother Sara wouldn’t let her go in case while she away, something happens to Kate and she needs something from Anna. It’s just to show how Anna can’t live a normal life while Kate is still sick.

Sara tells of her life in each year leading up to the present day. She used to be a successful lawyer, but she gave up her job when she had her children. Her chapters tell of each time Kate has gotten sick and how they have changed their lives to help her to get better. She tells us about the changes in their lives and how she deals with her sick daughter while she defends herself in the court case.

Brian tells us of how his life is as a fire man and how every few days he is putting out fires from a mysterious arsonist who he later finds out is his son Jesse. Himself and his daughter Anna move out of the house and into the fire station when things at home start to boil at home with the court case. Brian loves to look at the stars. He spends nights at the station on the roof looking at the starts and consolations. He named his daughter Anna after a consolation.

Kate is Anna’s sister. When she was two she was diagnosed with APL and has been in and out of hospital ever since. She was cured when she but had another relapse when she was 5. Kate’s kidneys are failing and her parents wanted Anna to give one of her kidneys. Kate has told Anna she doesn’t want the kidney and asked her to start the lawsuit against her parents.

Jesse is Anna and Kate’s brother and he lives in a separate apartment over the garage of their house. He spends everyday drinking, smoking and doing drugs in his apartment. He also goes to set fires to old buildings and his father is the Fire Captain. He goes to see a homeless guy every few days to get the things to start the fires with and in return brings him a meal from McDonalds.

Taylor is Kate’s boyfriend. They met during chemo; Taylor also has cancer but has AML which is a different type of cancer to Kate’s. Kate and Taylor went to a dance in the hospital together but Taylor died the next day. Sara found out but didn’t tell Kate for two months because she was afraid Kate would give up the fight and die so be with Taylor.

Campbell is Anna’s lawyer. Campbell agreed to take on Anna’s case even though she has not got enough money to pay him. He has a service dog called Judge, whose service is not known until the end of the book when he has a seizure during the court case we find out that he his an epileptic. During the case, he is reunited with an old girlfriend, Julia Romano, who was appointed to look after Anna and advise her in what she does.

Suzanne or Zanne as the kids like to call her is Sara’s sister and is very wealthy. When Kate gets sick, she looks after Anna and Jesse. When Sara and Brian come into trouble paying for Kate’s treatment, she offers to pay for it but Brian lies and tells her that he raised it through the Fire Station.

Dr. Chance is Kate’s oncologist and has grown close to the Fitzgerald family since Kate’s illness. When he gets up to speak at the court-case, he tells the judge he is not sure if Anna giving her kidney to Kate would be of any benefit.

Julia Romano is appointed by Judge DelSalvo to advise Anna and talk to her during the trial. She is reunited with Campbell and when she first realises that she has to work with him but they bond as we read through the book and up as a couple at the end.

At the end of the book we come into the court case. After much deliberation and consideration, the Judge rules in Anna’s favour and she is medically emancipated from her parents, and the judge appoints Campbell as someone to help her make her medical decisions Her parents head over to the hospital to be with Kate because she has gotten really ill and the doctors don’t think she will make it much longer and Anna stays at the courthouse with her lawyer to sign some papers.

While they are at the hospital, Brian gets called out to work on a road accident, a car and a truck. While he is out he goes into pull out the passenger and the driver, he looks and sees that it is Anna and Campbell and Campbell’s dog Judge. He gets them straight out and onto ambulances to the hospital. At the hospital, Anna is pronounced Brain Dead,. It means she wont wake up, but her organs still function. Before they turn off the life support, Campbell says as Anna’s medical advisor, that Kate should get the kidney. Brian and Sara then have to turn off the life support and Kate gets Anna’s kidneys.

For a while after she died, they all just stopped their lives. They spent their time at home thinking about her, afraid to laugh at anything funny or to leave the house. Life does improve for the Fitzgerald’s. Kate gets better and become’s a dance teacher, Jesse went to Police college and is now a policeman. The 4 of the Fitzgerald’s attended the wedding of Campbell Alexander and Julia Romano who they kept in contact with.

I loved this book. Even though I had read it before, I still didn’t expect what was coming. It is one of my favourite books and I could read it again and again! it was a great opportunity to read this book again