I'm not a fan of Picoult's writing style, but the subject matter in this book was intriguing and thought-provoking. Sixteen-year-old Kate was born with a very rare form of leukemia, and her mother is so determined to beat this disease that she and her husband conceive Anna, a "designer baby" genetically engineered to be a donor for Kate. So far, the 13-year-old Anna has donated platelets, blood, her umbilical cord, bone marrow, and now it's assumed that she will donate one of her kidneys in a last effort to save her sister's life. This is what Anna was conceived to do, but instead, she hires a lawyer in an effort to gain control over her body. I'll stop telling the story right there, but will point out that this novel makes some very real observations about what a serious illness can do to a family: the oldest child in this story is a boy in his late teens whose life has taken a bad turn due to the stress and neglect that has been his lot in life, Anna and her father are also stressed emotionally torn, and Kate's life is hell. This illness is all-consuming and very sad. The characters will not stay in your mind very long, because they're not very well developed, but the storyline will. It's certainly something to ponder. The ending was unexpected and I personally thought it was a cope out. Just sayin'