My Sister's Keeper is unquestionably the most emotionally touching book the author, Jodi Picoult, has written. Although the movie is compelling, it is completely different from the novel it is based on, breaking the hearts of many readers.  The book very successfully makes you wonder about freedom, love, death, and what you would do in the characters situations.

The movie and book tell the story of a 13-year old girl, Anna, who sues her parents for medical emancipation when she is expected to donate her perfect match kidney to her older sister, Kate, who's dying of leukemia. Anna, who was conceived by scientists is born to be the perfect genetic match for Kate. She is expected to undergo several procedures, including frequent blood withdrawals and a painful bone marrow extraction, to help keep Kate alive. She finally reaches her limits when they ask for her kidney. Motivated, scrapes up the money for a lawyer so she can sue her parents for the right to make decisions for her own body. This novel stays in your head as you read and as long after you have finished.

To begin, the book makes you feel a range of emotions. The narrative My Sister’s Keeper alternates between first-person accounts of the novel’s different characters. You become attached to all the characters from reading their points-of-views and how the other characters see them. Each chapter makes you want to read and learn more. Jodi Picoult connects with all types of audiences; mother, brother, sister, sick, healthy. I love this book mostly because it stays in my thoughts when doing everyday things. It makes the reader question, think, and realize things they hadn’t pondered before. For example, when Anna gets a lawyer and serves her parents, her mother, becomes furious as she cannot understand Anna’s decision not to help her sister. Readers, during this story, began to take sides and get close to some characters and become more hateful towards others.

My Sister's Keeper, the movie, still makes you feel all the emotions, like in the book, just not about the same topics or ideas as the book. Good performances from its adult and child actors are present it the film; however, the director's heavy-handed approach turns a worthy emotional subject into an overly dramatic tearjerker. Cameron Diaz, Alec Baldwin, and Abigail Breslin, well known actors, all contribute to this sentimental tale. Most people love this movie because of its emotional touch but others believe it’s the movies downfall. The movie still addresses all the topics the book does, but you don’t feel as emotionally connected with the characters as you would with the book.

If you want to feel the fulfillment of all these topics read the book and skip the movie. After reading the book, if you are still interested in watching the movie, don’t expect the same point-of-view or plotline.