My Sister’s
Keeper
Characters
Anna
 Initially
Anna comes across as being
insecure.

She refers to herself as:
the definition for the word ‘freak’
 Brian calls her the family’s ‘constant’ stating
that she is always reliable and bubbly no
matter what

Anna
 Anna
acts like a typical teenage girl- she is often
confused and insecure. Many of Anna’s chapters
begin with comments which illustrate this:
 “When
I was little, the great mystery to me wasn’t how
babies were made, but why.” (p. 7)
 “I used to pretend that I was just passing through this
family on my way to my real one.” (p. 49)
 “I don’t think anyone would come to my funeral.” (p. 85)
 “If Mr Webster had decided to put the word ‘freak’ in his
dictionary, ‘Anna Fitzgerald’ would be the best definition
he could give.” (p. 9)
 “Did you ever wonder how we all got here?” (p. 249)
Anna
 Each
of these quotes help readers to
relate to the character and the important
questions Anna is asking as we are/were
all teenagers as well and have probably
had similar questions, thoughts and
insecurities.
Anna
 First
impressions lead readers to believe
that she is selfish:
 She
seems to think only of herself when she
makes starts the lawsuit for the rights to her
body.
Anna

But first impressions can be misleading and readers learn
that Anna loves her sister deeply, her actions are anything
but selfish. Anna wants her sister to live…


“I don’t want her to die, but I know she doesn’t want to live like
this, and I’m the one who can give her what she wants.” (p. 389)
“Ten years from now… I’d like to be Kate’s sister.” (p. 412)
 This
shows how much Anna loves her
sister and how important Kate is to
Anna.
Sara
 Our
first impressions of Sara are of a
mother who is worried about her sick
child. But many of our opinions of her
quickly begin to change when we witness
her response to Anna’s lawsuit.

“’What the hell is this?”, “She slaps my face
hard enough to make my head snap
backward.”
Sara
 Sara’s
actions at Anna’s birth reveal how
deeply she wants Kate to survive. She
does not say “look at my beautiful
daughter” instead Sara says “The
umbilical cord… be careful”, because the
cord is needed to save Kate.
Sara

Anna’s thoughts suggest to us how unwanted
she feels within the family.

“A photo says, you were so important to me
that I put down everything else to come
watch.”

This comment is made when Anna is referring
to the living room being covered in photosbut most are of Kate, rather than Anna and
Jesse.
Sara
 As
the book progresses we see how
important Sara’s children are to her.
During the court case she states:

“You want your child to have more than
you ever did. You want to build a fire
underneath her and watch her soar. It’s
bigger than words…”

This clearly illustrates the feelings Sara has
about her children.
Sara
 She
compares her situation to a burning building
that has your child trapped inside. She notes
that the only way to save your child is to send in
her other daughter because…”she was the only
one who knew the way.”
 She
sums this up by saying “I knew that it was
the only chance I had to keep both of them.”
 This
helps to give us an insight into the
predicament Sara is in and reasons why she
behaves inappropriately in some circumstances
throughout the book.
Kate
 As
Kate’s voice is confined to such small
sections of the novel readers do not find
out much about Kate’s personality from
her own perspective. Therefore, we must
interpret what she is like based upon the
perceptions of others.
Kate
 While
we may assume Kate is a weak,
sickly girl, we later find that she is anything
but. Kate purposefully sets events in
motion to allow her sister to begin living
her life. She does not fear death and
often speaks to Anna about it “What do
you think is the best way to die?”
Kate
 Readers
later find out the truth about the
court case. When Anna is telling the court
about this the lawyer asks Anna how Kate
responds when she tells her she will refuse
to be a donor. Anna replies with “’She
said thanks.’”
Kate
 Above
anything else Kate wants to be
‘normal’ something which is increasingly
difficult the longer she is ill. When she is
playing rugby in the backyard with Jesse
he tackles her. He later states that “’I
forgot.’” However, Kate responds by
saying “’It feels great… He forgot!’”
Kate
 In
the final chapter of the novel we finally,
knowingly, hear Kate’s voice and gain insight into
Kate’s feelings.
 In this chapter Kate expresses thoughts that show her
connection to Anna: she keeps a photo of Anna
under her pillow (in-case one day she forgets what
she looks like), she always looks at her scars, and the
comment she makes is:

“I think about her kidney working inside me and her
blood running through my veins. I take her with me,
wherever I go.”
Julia
 Julia
is appointed the guardian as litem
for Anna. This means she is to get to know
the Fitzgerald family and situation and
make a neutral judgement on the
situation.
Julia

It is made clear to readers that Julia and
Campbell have had a relationship in the past.
Julia holds some bitterness towards Campbell as
she does not understand his reasons for breaking
up with her.

Julia makes it evident to Campbell that she still has
feelings for him: “When he smiles at me, I’m lost.”

They eventually marry: “we are close to Campbell
and Julia, even went to their wedding.”
Julia
 Ultimately
Julia is unsure of what her
decision should be with regards to the
Fitzgerald family because she can see it
from all perspectives:
 “You’re
not asking me to split a baby in
half. You’re asking me to split a family.”
Brian
 Brian
is the glue that binds the Fitzgerald
family together. He has a calm and
patient persona and is a real family man.
When he and Sara find out about the
court case, Brian cares about how Anna is
feeling. He offers he a bed in the fire
station so she does not have to feel
uncomfortable.
Brian
 Brian
is a keen astronomer, and often
refers to the night sky and the stars. He
even named Anna after a constellation.
 His
references to the night sky often refer
back to the situations within his family.


E.g. “Things don’t always look as they
seem.”
This is a reference to the stars in the sky, but
also comes after Anna reveals that it was
Kate’s idea to stop the treatments.
Brian

When Anna dies, Brian refers to the brightest
stars in the sky as being the only ones that get
noticed, when really there are two there:
“that first one shines so bright, by the time you
notice the second one, it’s really too late.”

This symbolises his feelings towards Anna, and
how she went unnoticed for so long because
of Kate, and now it is too late because she is
dead.
Brian
 When
Brian discovers that Jesse is the one
that has been lighting the fires he does
not react angrily. Instead he realises what
is behind Jesse’s actions and reaches out
to him to comfort him.
 “So
I do what I know will destroy him: I pull
Jesse into my arms as he sobs.”
Jesse
 Jesse
has a number of different sides to his
personality. Initially he appears to be a
rebellious teenager with no respect for
anyone or the law.
 His commentary describes his antics: crazy
driving, smoking and lighting fires- all of
these descriptions include swearing.
Jesse
 Jesse
does however have a sensitive side
when dealing with his sisters.


He helps Anna talk to Kate alone by
stopping their mother from being in the
room.
He also volunteers to be a donor to Kate
when she is unwell.
Jesse
 We
cannot ignore the fact that Jesse
does feel some bitterness towards his
family.

When he was younger his needs were
ignored while his mother dealt with Kate’s.
 E.G.
He does not get a new pair of soccer
boots and his dentist appointment is
cancelled to look after Kate.
 “Those don’t rate quite as high in the grand
scheme of things right now.” (Sara)
Jesse
 Jesse
does turn his life around though. In
Kate’s epilogue chapter we discover that
Jesse has graduated as a police officer
and that he won a “citation from the
mayor for his role in a drug bust.”
Campbell

Campbell comes across at the beginning as
being arrogant and focused solely on his career.
There is continuing reference to his dog, Judge,
including a number of excuses her gives about
the dog’s presence.





Iron lung- keeps him away from magnets
SARS- tallying up the people he infects
CPR- the dog is CPR trained
Colour-blind- tells him when traffic lights change
Eventually we discover the truth- Campbell suffers
from grand mal seizures and the dog can scent the
electrical impulses and can warn him.