The ways Mark and Anna react to the events that impact their lives illustrate how children are sometimes more morally mature than their parents are. Anna is her sister's keeper, and she devotes much of her life to caring for Kate. Anna's decision to take her mother to court was not based on selfishness but on moral righteousness. She knew that her mother was making the wrong decision to infringe on her personal liberties, and to view Anna as a tool to keep Kate alive. Anna might have very well opted to donate her kidney to Kate had she not died anyway. The lawsuit was fought on principle more than on the basis of Anna's willingness to help her sister.

Mark also has a clear right to challenge his parent's unfailing faith. His questioning religion does not mean Mark disrespects his father. Instead, it means Mark wants religion to become personally meaningful to him. Colin's cancer does make religion personally meaningful to Mark. The experience of meeting Colin, discussing science...

Mark and Anna are both precocious children who ask a lot of, and expect a lot from, the world. Mark's inquisitiveness about the universe is remarkable, as is Anna's willingness to avail herself of the legal system to challenge her mother in a court of law.
Like My Sister's Keeper, Ordinary Miracles addresses how people react when those they care about are stricken with a terminal illness. In both books, cancer changes people. Illness can alter a family dynamic. In some cases, terminal illness makes people stronger and relationships closer. In other cases, illnesses tear people apart. My Sister's Keeper and Ordinary Miracles reveal two different ways of developing compassion in the face of mortality.

Works Cited

Picoult, Jodi. My Sister's Keeper: A Novel. New York: Atria, 2004.

Tolan, Stephanie S. Ordinary Miracles. New York: HarperCollins, 1999.