Handle with Care discussion

I agree with you Fuzz. I loved this book! I love all of her books! I thought that Jodi threw Amelia into the mix because she wanted to write about "cutting", which is something kids do nowadays. I agree with you on questioning Charlotte sueing Piper. That was so sad! My least favorite character is the LIBRARIAN the hussy! HA HA :)

Willow dying in the end really broke my heart. I didn't like the fact that Charlotte buried the check with her. All of this chaos was for nothing. You know? She should have donated it to the camp that Willow attended... something like that. All in all, I thought it was a good read.

One of my favorites of Picoult's. Loved learning more about Willow's condition. Sad ending, but it almost had to end that way.

I do agree about the check, though. What a waste after everything that happened. It should have been donated.

this book was a little boring for me.. i liked my sister's keeper more..
Jodi Picoult has a really good taste in writing.. she's unique.. but i really wonder why her books must have something to do with courts, diseases etc..

This book was the first book I ever had read written by Jodi Picoult, and I absolutely loved it! I do agree w/ everyone that it was a very sad ending...which goes to show that you should spend your time "valuing and cherishing" your loved ones...because you never know how much time God will allow with them.
I don't agree w/ the other person's comment about Amelia being the "least favorite" character...I think Amelia was a very important character in this book. It shows that too often, when one child has special needs that the other child/children can too easily be overlooked and forgotten so to speak. The "cutting" that Amelia did is a behavior and problem that many young children and adolescents deal with, so it kinda was an eye opener maybe to some parents as to what to look out for in their own children.
Oh, I could talk all day about this book, I adored it...which is why I have 3 more of Jodi's books on my shelf just waiting to be read =)

Well I gave it a 2 star, because though it was well written, the plot was slow and very boring to me. This is only my second Picoult book (I loved the Pact) and everyone seems to be comparing it to My Sister's Keeper. Makes me wonder about MSK a little bit. I was disappointed that it had a strong court element, as the Pact aslo had a strong court element. I feel like she was trying to be gripping but at times was mellow-dramatic.
Basically the only reason why I didn't give it a 1 star is because it was well written. (But I didn't like the ending and I thought the plot was too slow. I feel she could have added 1 more chapter about Marin after the incident with her birth mom, could have dug deeper with her emotions. And I would have liked to have seen Amelia's and Sean's perspective after the death of Willow. I would have also have liked to know how Piper felt.)

i did enjoy this book, but the ending was so sad, took me days to get over Willow dying.

I understood how wrong it looked for her to sue her best friend but understood why the mother acted the way she did. The mom was made to be controversial in my opinion. When looking at her decisions that she made on the outside perspective it makes her look cruel for saying that she did not want her own child with the disability, but the reasoning behind it made sense. She tried to get the money so Willow can live a beneficial life. A real life example would be like this.. a husband knows his wife is dying and does not have the money so he decides to steal from a bank. Obviously stealing is wrong on all accounts, but the reasoning behind was to saved a loved one.

Ive read all of Picoults books, and while I enjoyed this book, her books are becoming a little too formulated. Several of her books include two siblings and a single parent or a marriage in trouble. One child has a prolbem and gets all the attention and the other child is ignored and acts out. This pattern is present in My Sisters Keeper, House Rules, Handle with Care, The Tenth Circle. It doesn't mean I will quit reading her stuff, I just won't rush out to read it. I really enjoyed The Plain Truth and Vanishing Acts.

I just finished this. I would say this was my least favorite Picoult. My favorites being My Sister's Keeper, Nineteen Minutes,The Tenth Circle, Change of Heart. My least favorites were The Pact and this one.

So far at off all the ones I have read My Sister's Keeper is hands down the best one

I loved the book, but nothing beats House rules.

Dara wrote: "I just finished this. I would say this was my least favorite Picoult. My favorites being My Sister's Keeper, Nineteen Minutes,The Tenth Circle, [book:Chan..."

Thats funny because the only one's I've read are the pact and this one, from Jodi P.

I liked most of this book, except for two factors:
1. Charlotte O'Keefe- I did not like her. No no no. I understood that what she was doing was for Willow, but that just didn't justify her tearing her family apart, and Willow herself thinking her mother did not want her. And I'm really and truly not judging her for saying that she would've gotten an abortion, because it's really one of those situations that you can't judge until you're in, but I was bothered that she wouldn't have gotten abortion, but still said she would've which led to above described scenarios. What I like best about Jodi Picoult books is that no matter the situation, you always sympathize with every character, and I was and still am unable to completely symphatize.
2. The Ending- it was too My Sister's Keeper for me. I think I would've found Willow's death more powerful if they had lost the case, because it would've been (for lack of a better term) a double whammy and would've packed the punch MORE that Charlotte dared to say in court that she would've given Willow up and then she did end up losing her.
It was still very good, but I just thought those two things were lacking a little.

I loved the book but I thought it was stupid that after all that the girl dies of something stupid and they don't use one cent of the money, all that struggle and loss of friendship was for nothing!

Not my favourite Jodi Picoult book. Loved The Pact and currently reading Plain Truth and loving it. Didn't like the last chapter - it made it seem like it had all been a waste of time. I know that the characters couldn't have predicted the future, but I agree with Tegan that all the struggle and loss of friendship seemed for nothing.

I agree with everyone on the end. It, for myself, was a hard book to read in the sense of its contents. My heart was bleeding for this family but it teaches alot about how to cherish what you love.
5 stars for me :)

I loved My Sister's Keeper so much, and thought I'd continue the Picoult books by reading Handle With Care, and I liked it, though not as much as My Sister's Keeper, until the end.
The ending ruined the book for me.
Willow should not have died in that way (or at all in my opinion but if she had to it should have made more sense).

The end ruined the book for me. If the ending had been different and Willow was alive, I would have loved it. As it was a threw the book across the room - and I NEVER abuse books like that. I was so upset and pissed off that in the end "it wasn't [her] that broke." I normally love rereading Jodi's books, but I will NEVER read this one again.

Myers1983 wrote: "Ive read all of Picoults books, and while I enjoyed this book, her books are becoming a little too formulated. Several of her books include two siblings and a single parent or a marriage in troubl..."
I agree Myers1983, I read a lot of Picoults books all in a row and found that they are a bit generic. Still, she is an awesome writer (and sadly all the things she writes about can really happen to families) but now I read other books in between to break up the pattern.

Where is the part of the check being buried with her?

at the end.

I was totally absorbed in this book but wondered through the last 3/4 of it how the mother could be so blind to the effect her actions had on her family. Do the ends justify the means? Is lying to help someone else wrong? Can a child understand that fighting and hateful words mean she is loved? Can no one see the damage to both children? How many lives is it okay to ruin to improve one? Lots of questions and sad answers.

The ending was soooooooooooo emotional! I loved this book! I read it a couple of years ago, but I still remember how much i enjoyed reading it, a wonderful novel!

Nora aka Diva wrote: "at the end."
Thank you, i guess i never read the recipe.

I agrre with everyone's comments regarding the ending of the book. This book effected me very deeply because I also have disabilities.

This was my second Picoult novel I had ever read, after My Sister's Keeper. I read in quite a few comments above that people weren't too fond of the fact that she bases her books strongly on the legal system and illness/diseases/disabilities etc. But honestly, that is probably the reason why I love her books so much and I just keep reading them! It is unbelievable how much I learn about American law and law in general, and how I learn about a new disease/disorder with almost every book of hers that I read. I just love it!
Although the ending was really sad (I cried at the end of this and MSK), I feel like if it was a happy ending, the story would not have stayed with me for as long as it did. Good job once again, Picoult. (I feel like a critic now :p )

Michael wrote: "I loved the book, but nothing beats House rules."

loved that book just too much :') But I read it so long ago I can't remember if I was disappointed by the ending or not :p

I just don't like the ending, I mean, after all those exhausting over 500 pages just about Charlotte sueing her best-friend, the fragile Willow eventually dies. I mean........wtf?

It also has the similiar story-line with My Sister's Keeper which is so dissapointing because compare to the My Sister's Keeper, this book isn't so great.

My favorite parts about the book are always about Amelia, I mean.....she's amazing.

I'm not saying that this book is horrible, i just think that the ending was a huge let down.

Dara S. wrote: "I just finished this. I would say this was my least favorite Picoult. My favorites being My Sister's Keeper, Nineteen Minutes,The Tenth Circle, Change of Heart. My least favorites were The Pact ..."

Hi there!
The Pact moved a little slow for me, and I forced myself to read it...I didn't like how Emily's parents tried to instantly blame everything on Chris once this happened, but all before they were jelly and peanut butter. Not all the time do other people influence someone else to do anything, so they can't blame him for her death.

I remember when someone got this book for me as a christmas gift and it was the best....
did I post on here already?
well, I felt bad for Amelia because she started doing things in order to get attention; I understand that Willow had a condition where she constantly had to be supervised, but there were two parents in the house.
I was a bit surprised when, at the end,the check from the lawsuit wasn't used for something good and Willow dies....I was like, "nooooooooo!"
Amelia sort of reminded me of Cara from Lone Wolf, except Cara got her brother in some serious, uncalled for trouble whereas Amelia started self-harming...Cara and Amelia both had step fathers come into their lives that seemed to care about them, but they felt as if all of the attention was pouring into their other sibling(s).
All in all, I was sad that Willow died...

I thought this book was amazing. I'm only 17, so I don't read too many books of this sort. However, when I did read it, I thought it was great. The storyline kept me intrigued the whole time. This was also the first book I've read by this author, and I will be reading many more. The one thing that was a little horrible, was the ending. It took me over a week to recover from that. Like, why?! Everything was finally solved, and then BAM. She's dead.

However, when an author does some as risky as killing the significant figure, it says how big of a risk taker she actually is. It takes balls to kill off the child in the end. But you have to admit, it wasn't a way you expected Willow to die, was it? And that's what makes an author great- when they throw something at you that you least expect.

Vee wrote: "I thought this book was amazing. I'm only 17, so I don't read too many books of this sort. However, when I did read it, I thought it was great. The storyline kept me intrigued the whole time. This ..."

I agree! As I started writing my short stories and longer stories, I just suddenly started taking the risk of killing off significant people and when my readers would get to that part they'd be so shocked. I like that she does this with some of her books, having her readers go this direction and thinking everything is going fantastic and then we're surprised to find out she had other plans for us. I love her writing in all, though, and I want to read the book she and her daughter wrote.

Britannia wrote: "Vee wrote: "I thought this book was amazing. I'm only 17, so I don't read too many books of this sort. However, when I did read it, I thought it was great. The storyline kept me intrigued the whole..."

She and her daughter wrote a book together? hmm I'll have to check that out. You write short/long stories? So do I! would you ever care to swap sometime? I took a creative writing class, so I'm pretty good at giving back constructive feedback. Do you have a Wattpad? If not, I highly suggest you get one!

Hmm...I going to toss a stick bomb in the room. I HATED this book. Some books bore me. Some bother me with poorly drawn characters or plots that just don't hang together well. This one made me angry. Other than Willow and the doctor/friend I didn't care for the characters.

Some of the scenes read like an ABC After School Special (especially the conference they attended). Charlotte drags her family through hell, torpedoes her friendship (as well as her friend's career) to get the money, then doesn't even use it. If Picoult meant for us to have sympathy with Charlotte, she didn't do a very good job. The whole idea of "wrongful birth" is repugnant to me. Talk about a betrayal of a child she claims to love. "Gee kid, I love you like crazy, but I wish you'd never been born."

I wanted to throw the book out the window as I neared the end. Then I read the surprise twist ending in which she kills willow. I no longer wanted to throw it out the window. I wanted to smack the author upside the head with it.

lol...wow. Harsh. I'm not going to try and swade you into liking the book, but it is fictional. Wrongful birth, though I'm only a teen, is a very horrible, repulsive thing for a mother to ever consider. However, I liked how the author made us hate one of the main characters. Too many times the reader thinks the main character is this great person, so, when Picoult made us hate Charlotte, I really enjoyed that.

See, I don't have a book genre preference. I read what people throw at me, so I go into reading with a very broad mind. I allow books to be abstract and strange. This was definitely one of those books. Yes, sometimes the book did get boring and I wanted to throw it against the wall because Charlotte was that annoying. But, I would always end up picking it right back up-reading until I was another fifty pages in. The way the author wrote was very intelligent. To think that she had to research all that information on the disease and how law suits as such operate was amazing. You could tell she knew what she was writing about.

Lastly, I could really relate to Amelia. I've had such a shitty past with eating disorders, that it really made me connect with her-though, she's only fictional.

Anyway, whatever other readers opinions, I still loved it.

By Erika

Any expectant parent will say they do not want a perfect newborn, just a healthy one. But what happens when this simple request cannot be fulfilled? Imagine being told that your baby is going to be completely healthy and is developing normally, but in the blink of an eye, your doctor is pressuring you to have an abortion. What do you do? Would you be able to live with yourself knowing you signed a death certificate? "You can't win. Either you have the baby and wear your pain on the outside, or you don't have the baby and you keep that ache in you forever. I know I didn't do the wrong thing. But I don't feel like I did the right thing, either." (191).Charolette O’Keefe is faced with this problem in the book Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult.
Jodi Picoult is an American author who has written twenty one books between the years of 1992 and 2013. She was awarded the New England Bookseller Award for fiction in 2003.Picoult currently has 14 million copies of her books in print worldwide. Published on March 3, 2009 by publishing company, Atria, Handle with Care debuted at #1 on New York’s best sellers list. This compelling and inspirational story is about a family’s struggle to make ends meet while taking care of their newborn who was born with disabilities.
During Charolette’s pregnancy, her doctor neglected to tell her that her baby might have disabilities that will affect her growth. When Charolette’s baby was born, her world seemed to be spinning in the opposite direction. Everything seemed to be going wrong. Charolette and Sean’s daughter had many broken bones and was not breathing. The doctors had to revive this newborn, but eventually the doctors ask these two parents to sign a document saying they would not resuscitate the child if she stops breathing one more time. “I signed the do not resuscitate order. It was a plea for mercy in black and white, until you read between the lines: here is the first time I lied, and said that I wish you’d never been born”(11).This seems to be the first major problem that this family seems to face, but things seem to get worse before they get better. Their newborn, Willow, was born with severe Osteogenesis Imperfecta, also known as, Brittle bone syndrome. Osteogenesis Imperfecta is disorder characterized by brittle bones that are prone to fracture. “Your first seven breaks happened before you entered this world. The next four happened minutes after you were born, as a nurse lifted you out of me. Another nine, when you were being resuscitated in the hospital, after you coded. The tenth: when you were lying across my lap and suddenly I heard a pop. Eleven was when you rolled over and your arm hit the edge of the crib”(56). In Willow’s lifetime she has hundreds of broken bones. All of these injuries were extremely expensive and it was really hard for her family to afford all of the medical bills. Charolette realizes how stressful it is to balance a happy life, healthy marriage, a teenage daughter, and all of Willow’s needs. Charolette has an opportunity to file a lawsuit against her Obgyn, who is also her best friend. Charolette can make a lawsuit against her saying that if she would have known Willow was going to have all of these problems, she would have had an abortion. If Charolette goes through with this, she would be able to afford all of the medical bills and requirements that Willow needs to survive and be comfortable. Charolette is faced with this horrible decision. She either has to continue living her life struggling and stressed or she can file a lawsuit against her bestfriend, and have to say that she does not love Willow, but would be set financially for the rest of Willow’s life.
Willow’s family takes turns narrating their experiences throughout Willow’s life. Each chapter is someone else’s view point. This makes it easy to read. The chapters seem to fly by and before you know it you are hooked on the book. The perspective constantly changes and makes it interesting for the story. The perspective does not only change for the reader, but also the characters throughout the novel. “You put someone up on a pedestal, and all of a sudden, from that perspective, you notice what's wrong - a hair out of place, a run in a stocking, a broken bone. You spend all your time and energy making it right, and all the while, you are falling apart yourself.”(145). The different viewpoints makes this book easy to relate to and understand.
I highly recommend this book. Jodi Picoult does an excellent job in attracting the reader’s attention. I read this book in three days. It was so hard to put down, there are so many unexpected situations that really make you sympathize for the characters. It is sort of a lengthy book, but it is a super easy read and once you start reading it you will not be able to stop.

By Erika
Any expectant parent will say they do not want a perfect newborn, just a healthy one. But what happens when this simple request cannot be fulfilled? Imagine being told that your baby is going to be completely healthy and is developing normally, but in the blink of an eye, your doctor is pressuring you to have an abortion. What do you do? Would you be able to live with yourself knowing you signed a death certificate? "You can't win. Either you have the baby and wear your pain on the outside, or you don't have the baby and you keep that ache in you forever. I know I didn't do the wrong thing. But I don't feel like I did the right thing, either." (191).Charolette O’Keefe is faced with this problem in the book Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult.
Jodi Picoult is an American author who has written twenty one books between the years of 1992 and 2013. She was awarded the New England Bookseller Award for fiction in 2003.Picoult currently has 14 million copies of her books in print worldwide. Published on March 3, 2009 by publishing company, Atria, Handle with Care debuted at #1 on New York’s best sellers list. This compelling and inspirational story is about a family’s struggle to make ends meet while taking care of their newborn who was born with disabilities.
During Charolette’s pregnancy, her doctor neglected to tell her that her baby might have disabilities that will affect her growth. When Charolette’s baby was born, her world seemed to be spinning in the opposite direction. Everything seemed to be going wrong. Charolette and Sean’s daughter had many broken bones and was not breathing. The doctors had to revive this newborn, but eventually the doctors ask these two parents to sign a document saying they would not resuscitate the child if she stops breathing one more time. “I signed the do not resuscitate order. It was a plea for mercy in black and white, until you read between the lines: here is the first time I lied, and said that I wish you’d never been born”(11).This seems to be the first major problem that this family seems to face, but things seem to get worse before they get better. Their newborn, Willow, was born with severe Osteogenesis Imperfecta, also known as, Brittle bone syndrome. Osteogenesis Imperfecta is disorder characterized by brittle bones that are prone to fracture. “Your first seven breaks happened before you entered this world. The next four happened minutes after you were born, as a nurse lifted you out of me. Another nine, when you were being resuscitated in the hospital, after you coded. The tenth: when you were lying across my lap and suddenly I heard a pop. Eleven was when you rolled over and your arm hit the edge of the crib”(56). In Willow’s lifetime she has hundreds of broken bones. All of these injuries were extremely expensive and it was really hard for her family to afford all of the medical bills. Charolette realizes how stressful it is to balance a happy life, healthy marriage, a teenage daughter, and all of Willow’s needs. Charolette has an opportunity to file a lawsuit against her Obgyn, who is also her best friend. Charolette can make a lawsuit against her saying that if she would have known Willow was going to have all of these problems, she would have had an abortion. If Charolette goes through with this, she would be able to afford all of the medical bills and requirements that Willow needs to survive and be comfortable. Charolette is faced with this horrible decision. She either has to continue living her life struggling and stressed or she can file a lawsuit against her bestfriend, and have to say that she does not love Willow, but would be set financially for the rest of Willow’s life.
Willow’s family takes turns narrating their experiences throughout Willow’s life. Each chapter is someone else’s view point. This makes it easy to read. The chapters seem to fly by and before you know it you are hooked on the book. The perspective constantly changes and makes it interesting for the story. The perspective does not only change for the reader, but also the characters throughout the novel. “You put someone up on a pedestal, and all of a sudden, from that perspective, you notice what's wrong - a hair out of place, a run in a stocking, a broken bone. You spend all your time and energy making it right, and all the while, you are falling apart yourself.”(145). The different viewpoints makes this book easy to relate to and understand.
I highly recommend this book. Jodi Picoult does an excellent job in attracting the reader’s attention. I read this book in three days. It was so hard to put down, there are so many unexpected situations that really make you sympathize for the characters. It is sort of a lengthy book, but it is a super easy read and once you start reading it you will not be able to stop.

Jodi P is brilliant. I related to it having a disabled daughter, fortunately not severely.
Motto? Life sucks and we need to hold on to those we love.

I also think Charlotte and Sean should’ve sought other ways to get donations with their doctor's’ help, with appeals to charities, the pharmaceutical company. But then there would not have been this book. 😉