The Fitzgerald family is always in a crisis - their daughter, Kate, was diagnosed with a deadly form of leukemia at the age of 2 and has been battling it for the last 13 or so years. At the time of the diagnosis, no one in their family (mom, dad, slightly older brother) is a match for any type of donations. The parents then decide to create a family member that is a match for Kate - which is where Anna (short for Andromeda) comes in. Geneticists design Anna to be a perfect match to her sister and from the moment she is born, as soon as the doctors sever the umbilical cord, she begins saving her sister.returnreturnFast forward to Anna as a 13 year old. Kate is in the final throes of renal failure, which means that she needs a kidney transplant and the family assumes that Anna will be the donor. But the decision isn't so easy for Anna. She decides to approach a lawyer to help her gain medical emancipation to give her an opportunity to make her own choices about her own body.returnreturnThis is where Picoult is at her best - we see every side of the story, we learn about how people came to their heart wrenching decisions. It's a wonderful novel about the love of the family and what people are willing to do (and not do) to save their loved ones.