Author: Jodi Picoult

Pages: 512

Guest Reviewer: Teen Scene Junior Contributor Harneet Sekhon

Charlotte and Sean O’Keefe’s daughter, Willow, is born with a rare born disease called Osteogenesis Imperfecta, otherwise known as a brittle bone disease. They are devastated at the thought that she will suffer hundreds of broken bones as she grows, an incurable lifetime of pain.

When the family starts to suffer from Willow’s medical expenses, Charlotte thinks she has some sort of a solution for their problems. If she files a wrongful birth lawsuit against her ob/gyn for not telling her in advance that her child would be born severely disabled, the payouts might ensure a lifetime of care for Willow. But it means that Charlotte has to get up in a court of law and say in front of everyone that she would have rather have had an abortion had she of known beforehand of Willow’s condition – words that her husband can’t abide, that Willow will hear, and that Charlotte cannot reconcile. And the ob/gyn she’s suing isn’t just her physician – it’s her best friend…

Handle with care is a vivid book consumed in personal and ethnical matters, revolving around the questions – As a parent, how far would you go for someone you love? Would you be willing to lie to your friends, to your husband, to a court? And most of all – would you admit that what your saying up in court might actually not be a lie itself?

Handle with care is a complex but outstanding read for an older audience. Jodi Picoult attracts her older readers by using split narrative throughout this novel in order for us all to see who really is in the wrong here; she uses hard heart-wrenching emotions, making the reader feel deep empathy for all and most importantly she allows us to see how one person who’s only intentions is to care for her loved one, might unintentionally terminate all her other loved ones…

I personally would recommend this book for all older readers, as it questions your personal view on serious matters where not only one person is at risk, many are in risk of losing the ones they love… and we all know that love is the most powerful thing on earth… right?