Jodi Picoult\'s 2004 Novel My

Jodi Picoult's 2004 novel My Sister's Keeper and Stephanie Tolan's novel Ordinary Miracles share some common themes. My Sister's Keeper tells the compelling story of Anna, who was conceived in vitro and born specifically so that she could be a genetic match for her cancer-stricken sister. Ordinary Miracles is a different tale about a young boy who also questions his parents' judgment and his own religious convictions. Both novels delve into the complexity of family dynamics and the extents to which people go to save the lives of those they love. Both stories also show how human beings believe so much in their own superiority that they tamper with fate.

Anna's parents Brian and Sara arguably cross over an ethical line when they decide to make Anna. Picoult suggests that creating Anna is an act similar to human cloning. Her parents love her, but Anna knows that she would never have been born if her sister had not gotten sick. Brian and Sara were unable to cope with Kate's leukemia and more importantly, with her mortality. The end of the story shows that the Fitzgeralds tampered with fate in an unethical manner when they created Anna. Fate caught up with them; they lost a daughter anyway. Mark also tampers with fate but in a much less controversial or catastrophic way. Organizing the prayer campaign is not the same as creating a human being. The way Mark reacted to Colin's cancer is much different than the way the Brian and Sara reacted to Kate's. As Mark says, "Things don't always work out the way you planned, not even for ministers of God," (Tolan 9).

The characters Mark and Anna are similar in some ways. Both live in the shadows of their siblings. Mark's twin is just a few seconds older than him, and Mark imagines that Matthew is smarter and stronger because of it. Anna becomes her older sister's keeper, a veritable medicine chest and walking organ donor for Kate. Both Mark and Anna challenge their parents on deep meaningful issues -- and not the trivial things that most teens argue with their parents about.

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.