My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

“Gamma rays, leukemia, parenthood. It is the things you cannot see coming that are strong enough to kill you.”
– Chapter 10, pg, 105

“Summertime, I think, is a collective unconscious. We all remember the notes that made up the song of the ice cream man; we all know what it feels like to brand our thighs on a playground slide that’s heated up like a knife in a fire; we all have lain on our backs with our eyes closed and our hearts beating across the surface of our lids, hoping that this day will stretch just a little longer than the last one, when in fact it’s all going in the other direction.” – Chapter 29, pg. 279

“Change isn’t always for the worst; the shell that forms around a piece of sand looks to some people like an irritation, and to others, like a pearl.”
– Chapter 37, pg. 350

“I realize then that we never have children, we receive them. And sometimes it’s not for quite as long as we would have expected or hoped. But it is still far better than never having had those children at all.” – Chapter 46, pg. 395

“None of us is obligated to go into a fire and save someone else from a burning building. But all that changes if you’re a parent and the person in that burning building is your child. If that’s the case, not only would everyone understand if you ran in to get your child – they’d expect it of you. In my life, that building was on fire, one of my children was in it – and the only opportunity to save her was to send in my other child, because she was the only one who knew the way.” – Chapter 51, pg. 406

“As much as you want to hold on to the bitter sore memory that someone has left this world, you are still in it. And the very act of living is a tide: at first it seems to make no difference at all, and then one day you look down and see how much pain has eroded.” – Chapter 56, pg. 422

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult.

The first time I heard about this book was back in 2006 during a group discussion for my Issues in Biotechnology capstone course. My classmate made it sound like an interesting PGD read (which stands for preimplantation genetic diagnosis and not some variation of the MPAA’s film rating system),

so I made a mental note to pick it up someday. Fast forward three years (has it really been that long?), and I find out my favorite 6-year-old, Olivia Hancock, is starring in the movie opposite Cameron Diaz. My best friend is Olivia’s babysitter from time to time. I took her to the zoo once, bought her a stuffed giraffe. Woo-hoo, I’m basically famous (note the sarcasm). So my goal was to read the book before seeing the movie. It’s your typical Picoult. Lots of viewpoint switcheroos, similes (a few that didn’t make any sense), an endless supply of in-your-face metaphors, and your obligatory surprise ending. On the grocery list this week: Kleenex.