Jodi Picoult: My Sister's Keeper

Hi guys,

We only have 3 weeks left in April (sorry for the late post), but you're welcome to join me in reading My Sister's Keeper if you want!

Here's the inside flap:
"Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate - a life and a role that she has never questioned… until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister - and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable… a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves. My Sister's Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child's life… even if that means infringing upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to discover who you really are, if that quest makes you like yourself less?"

Benjamin Franklin: Question #1

In introducing his life and biography Franklin states “that were it offered to my choice, I should have no objection to a repetition of the same life from its beginning, only asking the advantages authors have in a second edition to correct some faults of the first.” Do you think he took this advantage in writing about his life? Did he re-write his life in a better light? Is it possible to write an autobiography without doing this?

Benjamin Franklin: Question #2

In justifying not being a vegetarian because he saw fish inside the fish he wanted to eat, Franklin said, “So convenient a thing is it to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for every thing one has a mind to do.” We know that he cheated on his wife a lot (who knows what else). Do you think he used this attitude to justify his actions throughout his life? (I just thought this saying was clever and showed his personality, so I wanted to quote it here.)

Benjamin Franklin: Question #3

Franklin had some good connections: the governor helped him get his start; he met up with people in the printing industry in New York on the way to Philadelphia, etc. Considering all that Franklin accomplished in his life, was Franklin an unprecedented genius, or just in the right place at the right time? Are there people of equal caliber that we never hear of because they’re born in some obscure part of the world? Does such a thing as a “self-made man” exist, or is it all about who you know?

Benjamin Franklin: Question #4

Upon his involvement in expanding the printing and circulation of paper money, Franklin states, “My friends there (in the House), who conceived I had been of some service, thought fit to reward me by employing me in printing the money; a very profitable job and a great help to me.” This sounds very similar to the pork barreling and large government contracts we so often hear complaints of. Is this something that has always happened? Is there anything in Franklin’s biography that would lead you to think that he would disagree with the way those contracts are awarded today?