My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picouit

Fiction. Hardback from Hodder & Stoughton. Published in 2004. On loan from the Windsor Library.

The other day I was clicking between our five channels and came upon Richard & Judy, a daily talk show that plays here in the UK. As it was a Wednesday, they were talking about the latest book they'd read for their Book Club. I don't usually watch the show, but since they were talking about a book, I stopped long enough to hear what they had to say. The book was My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picouit. I had never heard of it, but as they discussed it, I thought I'd keep my eyes open for it the next time I was at the library.

The book is told from the point of view of all the characters, moving back and forth between them. The author does a good job of describing what it is like to have a child with a terminal disease, and the ending definitely surprised me.

Publisher's summary:
Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since she was a child. Anna was born for this purpose, her parents tell her, which is why they love her even more. But now that she has reached an age of physical awareness, she can't help but long for control over her own body and respite from the constant flow of her own blood seeping into her sister's veins. 

And so she makes a decision that for most would be too difficult to bear, at any time and at any age. She decides to sue her parents for the rights to her own body.

Using her sensitive, wise touch, Jodi Picoult probes into the love and heartache of a young girl and a modern family.

To buy from amazon.co.uk, click here: My Sister's Keeper
from amazon.com, click here: My Sister's Keeper : A Novel