History Fridge / MySistersKeeper

* In the book, after winning her lawsuit, Anna tells Campbell [[spoiler:shortly before her death]] that she plans to give a kidney to Kate anyway. It seems like a ShaggyDogStory type of ending after all that, but there's actually a kind of symmetry to it: Kate was willing to sacrifice her life for Anna's freedom, and once Anna has said freedom, she in turn effectively decides to return the sacrifice by giving Kate a chance to live (and of course the sacrifice is that much more meaningful ''because'' Anna is choosing it of her own accord). Of course, [[spoiler:it turns into a ShootTheShaggyDog as none of this ends up mattering in the end anyway.]]

* In the book, after winning her lawsuit, Anna tells Campbell [[spoiler:shortly before her death]] that she plans to give a kidney to Kate anyway. It seems like a ShootTheShaggyDog, but there's actually a kind of symmetry to it: Kate was willing to sacrifice her life for Anna's freedom, and once Anna has said freedom, she in turn effectively decides to return the sacrifice by giving Kate a chance to live (and of course the sacrifice is that much more meaningful ''because'' Anna is choosing it of her own accord). Of course, [[spoiler:the real ShootTheShaggyDog is that none of this ends up mattering in the end anyway.]]

*** This is true, but Campbell's epilepsy is pretty clearly not under control given that he has a major seizure over the course of the book and that he uses a seizure dog (it would be extremely abnormal for him to keep a service dog around just in case he has a seizure if the risk was that remote; the use of a service dog indicates a condition that needs to be actively managed by that method). The author probably just didn't think that part through.

*** This is true, but Campbell's epilepsy is pretty clearly not under control given that he has a major seizure over the course of the book and that he uses a seizure dog (it's unlikely he'd keep a service dog around just in case he has a seizure when that hasn't happened for years). The author probably just didn't think that part through.

*** This is true, but Campbell's epilepsy is pretty clearly not under control given that he has a major seizure over the course of the book and that he uses a seizure dog (it's unlikely he'd keep a service dog around just in case he has a seizure when that hasn't happened for years). The author probably just [[CriticalResearchFailure didn't think that part through]].

** On top of this, the family doesn't literally treat Anna like her sole purpose in life is to be a donor for Kate. That's not to say that what's being asked of her is reasonable, but it's not like they forget about her or pretend she doesn't exist except when they need her as a donor; Brian and Sara do love Anna and they're good parents to her for the most part, they just have one giant blind spot around Kate's illness (which seems like a case where their terror of Kate dying is impeding their ability to see any other concerns, rather than a sign that they consider Anna less valuable than Kate). Even if someone ''did'' contact CPS, it would likely be a low-priority case, and when they did get around to it, there's not a whole lot they'd be able to do; most social workers would likely be reluctant to take Anna away from a home where she was generally well-cared for over this one thing, especially if Anna herself didn't want to go (and there's no indication Anna would want something so drastic), and most of their other tools (like mandatory parenting classes) wouldn't really fit this particular situation.

** On top of this, the family doesn't literally treat Anna like her sole purpose in life is to be a donor for Kate. That's not to say that what's being asked of her is reasonable, but it's not like they forget about her or pretend she doesn't exist except when they need her as a donor; Brian and Sara do love Anna and they're good parents to her for the most part, they just have one giant blind spot around Kate's illness (which seems like a case where their terror of Kate dying is impeding their ability to see any other concerns, rather than a sign that they consider Anna less valuable than Kate). Even if CPS ''were'' to get involved, most social workers would likely be reluctant to take Anna away from a home where she was generally well-cared for over this one thing, especially if Anna herself didn't want to go (and there's no indication Anna would want something so drastic). At most, they'd probably try to get the parents into counseling and ''maybe'' get a court order for some kind of additional oversight (like an independent advocate to represent Anna) for any future medical procedures performed on Anna for the benefit of Kate.

** On top of this, the family doesn't literally treat Anna like her sole purpose in life is to be a donor for Kate. That's not to say that what's being asked of her is reasonable, but it's not like they forget about her or pretend she doesn't exist except when they need her as a donor; Brian and Sara do love Anna and generally take reasonably good care of her, they just have this one giant blind spot when it comes to Kate's illness (which seems like a case where their terror of Kate dying is impeding their ability to weigh all the factors rationally, rather than a sign that they consider Anna less valuable than Kate). Even if CPS were to get involved, a competent social worker would likely be reluctant to take Anna away from her parents, especially if Anna herself didn't want that; at most, they'd probably try to get the parents into counseling and ''maybe'' require some kind of additional oversight (like an independent advocate to represent Anna) for any future medical procedures performed on Anna for the benefit of Kate.

** On top of this, the family doesn't literally treat Anna like her sole purpose in life is to be a donor for Kate. That's not to say that what's being asked of her is reasonable, but it's not like they forget about her or pretend she doesn't exist except when they need her as a donor; they're basically good parents to her except for this one giant blind spot (which is really a case of their terror of Kate dying overwhelming reason). Even if CPS were to get involved, a competent social worker would likely be reluctant to remove Anna from a generally loving household, especially if Anna herself didn't want that; at most, they'd maybe try to get the parents into counseling to help them balance their daughters' needs better.

** And for what it's worth, Anna wasn't created solely to be 'spare bits'. The only planned donation was an umbilical cord one, which the doctors hoped would work. It didn't, so the decision to get Anna to donate was made later. So the issue was very complicated.

* In the book, after winning her lawsuit, Anna tells Campbell [[spoiler:shortly before her death]] that she plans to give a kidney to Kate anyway. It seems like a ShootTheShaggyDog, but there's actually a kind of symmetry to it: Kate was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice so that Anna could have a chance to have a life, and Anna in turn decides (now that it's ''her'' decision) to make a sacrifice of her own to give ''Kate'' a chance to have a life. Of course, [[spoiler:the real ShootTheShaggyDog is that none of this ends up mattering in the end anyway.]]

*** This is true, but Campbell's epilepsy is pretty clearly not under control given that he has a major seizure over the course of the book and that he uses a seizure dog (it's unlikely he'd keep a service dog around just in case he has a seizure when that hasn't happened for years). The author probably just [[CriticalResearchFailure didn't think it that far through]].

* In the book, Anna tells Campbell [[spoiler:shortly before her death]] that she plans to give a kidney to Kate anyway. It seems like a ShootTheShaggyDog, but there's actually a kind of symmetry to it: Kate was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice so that Anna could have a chance to have a life, and Anna in turn decides (now that she ''can'' decide) to make a sacrifice of her own to give ''Kate'' a chance to have a life. Of course, [[spoiler:the real ShootTheShaggyDog is that none of this ends up mattering in the end anyway.]]

* Why is a child whose sole reason to exist is spare bits for her dying sister not taken away by CPS?

* In the book, Anna tells Campbell [[spoiler:shortly before her death]] that she plans to give a kidney to Kate anyway. It seems like a ShootTheShaggyDog, but there's a kind of subtle symmetry to it: Kate was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice so that Anna could have a chance to have a life, and Anna in turn decides (now that she ''can'' decide) to make a sacrifice of her own to give ''Kate'' a chance to have a life. Of course, [[spoiler:the real ShootTheShaggyDog is that none of this ends up mattering in the end anyway.]]

* In Greek mythology, the princess Andromeda becomes a sacrifice to angry gods. In this novel, the character Andromeda (Anna for short) is born to be a sacrifice, albeit in little pieces, to her sister.

Fridge Brilliance

Fridge Logic

* Why is someone with uncontrolled epilepsy allowed to drive?

Why is someone with uncontrolled epilepsy allowed to drive?

* If you look closely at the first chapter, the ending of the book is not so random, and even almost ''implied'' Anna states that "See, unlike the rest of the free world, I didn't get here by accident. And if your parents have you for a reason, then that reason better exist. Because once it's gone, so are you." The fridge brilliance comes in when you get to the end of the book. [[spoiler:Anna wins the case, and doesn't have to donate her kidney to Kate. But her entire reason for existing was to basically be a bag of spare parts for Kate. So when she won the case, her reason for existing was gone, and so was she.]] It seems like a simple, meaningless throwaway line at first, but is actually very important and telling.

* If you look closely at the first chapter, the ending of the book is not so random, and even almost ''implied'' Anna states that "See, unlike the rest of the free world, I didn't get here by accident. And if your parents have you for a reason, then that reason better exist. Because once it's gone, so are you."
the fridge brilliance comes in when you get to the end of the book. [[spoiler:Anna wins the case, and doesn't have to donate her kidney to Kate. But her entire reason for existing was to basically be a bag of spare parts for Kate. So when she won the case, her reason for existing was gone, and so was she.]] It seems like a simple, meaningless throwaway line at first, but is actually very important and telling.