Summary on My Sisters Keeper
SUMMARY. This book starts off with the main character Anna Fitzgerald selling a prized possession that her mother gave her. After going home she goes to an attorney’s office, Campbell Alexander is the attorney Anna picks to hire to sue her parent for the right to her own body. She explains that the only reason she was born was to be Kate’s donor. Kate, her sister, is in the end stages of kidney failure, and Anna wants to file the lawsuit so she won’t have to donate a kidney to Kate. Campbell, who has a service dog but always gives a sarcastic explanation whenever someone asks why, agrees to represent Anna for free.
When Anna’s mother Sara receives the papers for the lawsuit, she becomes furious with Anna. Sara can’t understand why Anna would want to do this to her sister, as she hasn’t had any problem with donating to her sister before. Anna’s father however can understand both side of this lawsuit recognizes that she would not have brought a lawsuit unless she was genuinely unhappy. When they realize that they will need a lawyer, Anna’s mother who is a lawyer, decides to be the lawyer representing the opposing side, not thinking the case will go far and thinks she will be able to get Anna to drop the case.
The judge that will be dealing with Anna’s case is Judge Desalvo. She appoints a guardian ad litem for Anna, Julia Romano; her job is to objectively decide the best interests of the minor child. Throughout all of these events, Jesse has been setting different abandoned buildings on fire. Jesse acts like a delinquent in other ways as well, such as drinking alcohol, but much of this behaviour is coming from his feelings of being ignored by his parents. Then Brian, their father, finds out that Jesse was the one who has been setting all the recent fires that he and his men have been putting out.
When Brian faces up to Jesse and asks him about it, Jesse admits that he feels immense guilt due to the fact he wasn’t a donor match for Kate. Kate becomes seriously ill and is hospitalized. Their Doctor Dr. Chance says she will die within a week. Anna refuses to change her mind about the case. At the hearing, Sara decides she will represent herself and Brian. As a result, Brian takes Anna to stay with him at the fire station to give Anna some distance from Sara. He believes if they remain in the same house together, Anna may unwillingly give in to her mother’s wish that she donate her kidney.
Throughout the trial and book, Sara realizes where she went wrong in some aspects of her parenting. Though she is frustrated at what Anna is doing, she never hates her or stops loving her for it. At the trial, Sara and Campbell question witnesses including the doctors familiar with Kate’s medical condition and history. Reluctantly Anna goes to the stand to tell her side of the story, during this Jesse as her brother getting annoyed at people blaming her, shouts to her to just tell the truth. She then admits that she only filed the lawsuit because Kate told her to.
Then just as she says that Campbell has an epileptic seizure and collapses. When his seizure ends, he admits he has been having seizures ever since a car accident in high school. He also explains that the seizures are the reason he has a service dog, which can tell when another seizure is coming on. Then Anna goes back to the stand and explains When Anna first found out that Kate needed her for a kidney transplant, she was going to do it and didn’t mind. But, Kate convinced her not to. Turns out, she didn’t want to go through with the surgery; she was tired of being sick and waiting to die.
She knew she’d die without the transplant, but she just couldn’t go through it all. It was Kate who convinced Anna to get a lawyer. Anna also admits that while she loves her sister, part of her wanted Kate to die, too, so that she could have more freedom with her life. The trial ends with Judge Desalvo ruling in Anna’s favour and that Campbell has medical attorney over her. Everyone was happy that the case was over, and no one was mad at Anna for doing what she did. A sad twist of fate then happens. On the way to the hospital, Campbell and Anna get into a serious car accident as the car was struck by a truck.
Campbell makes it out okay, but Anna is left brain dead. Everyone is wounded with grief, especially Sara who had always been planning out the death of her other daughter, Kate. Then doctors ask about an organ donation. Campbell, being the medical attorney for Anna, Campbell tells the doctors to give Anna’s kidney to Kate. Kate narrates the epilogue, set in 2010. She discusses the grief her family went through after Anna’s death, and the fact that she blames herself. She knows, however, that she will always carry Anna with her.
