Handle with Care Jodi Piccoult dramatically presents poignant issues surrounding a parent’s right to choose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy due to information obtained from testing. The readers opinion about the political hot topic of abortion is examined through medical, moral, ethical, legal, and social ramifications. The storyline is crafted as skillfully as her other novels, with her protective yet realistic presentation of yet another endangered child category.

Each character has their personal battles as well as involvement in with the precocious five year old, Willow, who has osteogenisis imperfecta type III. Sean O’Keefe, the father, views the world in black and white and is a police officer. He is married to Charlotte, the mother, who sees things in multiple shades of gray. She is a pastry chef who is so protective of Willow that all other matters fall to the side. Amelia, the half-sister, is a teen caught in the middle of the chaos who turns to self-mutilization and bulemia trying to cope. Piper – Charlotte’s best friend is the obstetrician. Marin is Charolotte’s attorney – who is having an identity crisis – trying to find her birth mother.

The narrative redefines love, law, family values, religious conviction in reviting colorful language. Delicate situations are practically compared to recipes that are graciously shared. This riviting page-turned is a must have for the personal library of family drama enthusiasts.