"Here are the things I know for sure: When you think you're right, you are most likely wrong. Things that break-be they bones, hearts, or promises-can be put back together but will never really be whole. And, in spite of what I said, you can miss a person you've never known. I learn this over and over again, every day I spend without you."


The novel Handle with Care, written by Jodi Picoult, is a novel about a mother having a child with an illness that could have been predicted. When she sues her doctor for not telling her about the illness soon enough for her to abort, people begin to question her. As a reader, you begin to question her too. It becomes a story about choices and morals and value of life. As well, the readers are taken through this family's journey and begin to feel for them. The readers notice the sacrifices made by the family and learn that one thing has the potential to hold a family together and tear them apart. This novel had the power to make the reader angry, happy, and sad. It also made the reader question and debate the arguments presented throughout the novel.

The O'Keefe's try to be a normal family with their children Amelia and Willow. Amelia is the older of the children and when her mom Charolette met her step-dad Sean, the two got married and eventually had Willow. Willow is an incredibly smart and whity five year old who has OI, a disease that causes her bones to break with as little as a sneeze. Everyone has to be very careful around her to make sure that she doesn't break another bone.

The family decides to take a carefully-planned trip to Disneyworld since they don't manage to go on vacation much. Willow ends up in the hospital with a break, Amelia in a foster home because they suspect abuse, and the O'Keefe adults in jail. When everything is finally sorted out, Sean wants to sue everyone possible for the embarrassment and inconvenience. His lawyer doesn't think much will come of that, but when he learns that Willow wasn't diagnosed in womb until past the 18th week, he thinks there might be a case there. Unfortunately this means that they will be suing Charlotte's best friend, who was also her ob-gyn.

The family is put under a lot of strain during the lawsuit. Sean doesn't know if he agrees with the lawsuit, Amelia feels invisible, and Willow thinks that her parents wished she wasn't born.

The similarities between this book and My Sister's Keeper are striking. A family with 2 children, one very sick. A lawsuit is involved and there's a similar twist at the end. Despite the fact that I felt like I had read this book before, I still couldn't put it down. If you were not a big fan of My Sister's Keeper, you probably won't enjoy this one either.

Charlotte and Sean O'Keefe with their two children, Amelia and Willow, plan a very longed-for vacation to Disneyworld. They have not been on vacation in ages because Willow has OI, a disease of brittle bones. Willow has broken numerous bones in her 5 years and spent countless hours in ERs and in casts.

Willow slips on a napkin and ends up in the ER. Abuse is suspected and Amelia goes to foster care and Charlotte and Sean go to the police station. Once home Sean is so upset he consults a lawyer to find out there is nothing he can do but there is a potential lawsuit of wrongful birth.

When Charlotte was pregnant and had an initial ultrasound the brain showed up as being very clear, a possible harbinger of the disease. Instead a secondary ultrasound found the problem when it was too late to do anything. Charlotte's best friend and OB should have found the problem or at the very least monitored the situation. Charlotte and Sean are very strapped for cash to handle Willow's medical expenses.

Charlotte decides to proceed with the lawsuit. She feels that she is doing this for the best of her child. In the meantime, poor neglected Amelia starts throwing up (bulimia) and cutting.

I absolutely hated Charlotte and felt there was no redeeming qualities about the character. What mother tells her child she loves her and then turns around and says to the court she wishes she aborted her and does this just for the money. Sean is the worst kind of wimp. He doesn't agree with Charlotte and starts divorce proceedings and then turns around and comes back to her. I have not had such a negative feeling about two characters in a long time.

The story is an interesting take on What if? and is very similiar to My Sister's Keeper.

Of the four Picoult novels that I've read, I've only liked one. Her writing is formulaic and she seems to be driven by a desire to shock her readers, and not in a good way. Her desire to shock and 'draw emotion' from her readers has made it easy to predict what exactly she'll write for her "twist" of an ending. I swore off Picoult after My Sister's Keeper, but then I read Salem Falls and thought I'd give another novel of hers a chance. I wish I hadn't, because this one was a complete waste of my time. The characters in this novel were outrageously unlikeable, and the twist was both predictable and horrible.

I'm usually a huge Jodi Picoult fan, but I actually could not finish this book. It takes a lot for me to give up on a book, but after reading some of the other reviews, I'm tempted to give it a second chance and hope it gets better.

I stopped reading because the emotions just seemed very contrived and overwrought. I found myself constantly rolling my eyes rather than getting caught up in what the characters were going through. I also didn't love that each character's story was told as if they were speaking to Willow. I think that added to my difficulty in relating to the story.

I love Picoult's style of writting its like your reading into the character's personal diaries, getting into their minds one by one and waiting to see how everything will unfold. Anyone who loved "My Sister's Keeper" should definitely read this book

Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult is the story of a family with two daughters; the youngest is born with brittle bone disease, a condition that makes her bones break easily. The mother sues for wrongful birth and the OB just happens to be her best friend.

This is second book I have read by Picoult and as always a emotional read but I found it the characters appeal lacking and not as riveting as My Sister's Keeper.

Not her best in my opinion but a great ending- I had to re read and was shocked.I felt it moved a little bit slower than most. Will read her novels again

I enjoyed this book, though not one of my favorites that I have read so far from Picoult. I have to agree with a previous comment about the disapproval of the ending. It almost seemed she was out of pages so just ended the book. That was a big let down.

I find that with Jodi Picoult's book, not only do you get so emotionally involved with the story and its character, but you also learn stuff because shes such a stickler for research. I didnt even know there was such a thing as 'OI'. A very good book that gets you thinking!
The end was a little dissapointing but I think she did it to be unpredictable....

Loved the book. Was dissappointed with the ending!

What if you were given the choice? What if you knew before your baby was born it would have a disability? A life of hospital visits? That he or she would be different? Would your choice be different?

I was drawn in from the first page. Charotte and Sean were ordinary parents with a child with OI (osteogenesis imperfecta). They are struggling with mounting debt, a child who sneezes and breaks bones and life just being unfair. In Jodi Picoult tradition the book has chapters written from different perspectives.......and a sub plot with the lawyer who takes the case. It was a quick read that leaves you thinking...........

This book is absolutely amazing! I hope they end up making a movie from this book. Her writing is fantasic. If you've read My sister's keeper and loved it, you will adore this one!