During the school year, most of us students are so busy rushing around doing everything we need to do that we barely have time to do anything for ourselves. I know my schedule is packed with rushing to school in the morning, going through the whole school day being stressed about tests and other work, going to sports practice until about five o’clock, and then coming home to be stressed yet again about all the homework I have to do. Then, if I’m lucky I can go to sleep at a decent hour. However, then I have to get up the next day to start the same stressful routine. Therefore, in the summer, students need to take advantage of the time they have to do things for themselves, like reading. Many students enjoy reading but during the year they do not have the time to read on our own. For that reason, it is very important for students to read for fun over the summer.
One of my favorite books I read this summer was My Sister’s Keeperby Jodi Picoult. It is probably one of the most inspirational books I have ever read. It really shows readers how short life is and how you need to live it to the fullest. It is so important to realize the great parts in life and stop worrying about the negative things because in a second, what you have could be gone. This is not better shown then in this novel. Jodi Picoult is an outstanding author who has written many books about the little things in life that many people take for granted. Therefore, I think everyone should read this book because it can teach you so much about life.
My Sister’s Keeper tells the story of the Fitzgerald family and how they deal with their daughter, Kate’s illness. Kate is sixteen years old in the story and was diagnosed with leukemia at a very young age. Her parents, Sara and Brian, were very worried for her so they decided to have another child to act as her donor. Therefore, they conceive Anna who is the perfect match to give bone marrow to Kate. As a child, Anna never questioned all the surgeries she had to go through to donate, but when she turned thirteen and was asked to donate her kidneys for her sister, she eventually questions the motive. At this point, Anna is a teenager and is trying to figure out who she is. All throughout her life she had been defined by her sister. Therefore, Anna makes a decision that questions everything the family has been doing for the past years; she recruits the help of an attorney to sue her parents so she can have rights for her own body. Her parents would not let her have her own say in donating anything and Anna did not want to have to go through surgery again. Her father has mixed feelings because he understands Anna’s position, but her mother feels Anna should donate the kidney because she is always worried about saving Kate’s life. Therefore, this decision could eventually tear the family apart and place deathly consequences on Kate, but Anna wanted to have her own say.
My Sister’s Keeper assesses what it signifies to be a good parent, a good sister, and an overall good person. This question arouses during the story, is it really correct to do whatever you can to save your child’s life, even if it will affect someone else’s? In addition, after making the decision to sue her parents, Anna feels like she is a bad person for going against her parents and maybe even killing her sister. Therefore, another question is brought up. Is it really worth trying to find out who you actually are if in the end it makes you hate yourself more? My Sister’s Keeper is a great book that describes how to deal with these questions and what can happen if you don’t pay attention to all the good things you have in life. I would recommend this book to anyone because it is just overall a great life lesson for anyone to learn.
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