Handle With Care - Thoughts

[Kari Jennifer]

In Handle With Care, do you think Willow deserved to die? What are your thoughts, feelings, or comments toward this book?

[Anna]

I don't think she deserved to die--I did wonder if perhaps she was not afraid to die. When she made the chose to walk across the ice she would have been aware of the risk--maybe she was tired of living in a "bubble" and willing to take the chance? I felt bad for her sister as I think Willow's death would lead her down an unhealthy path--more binging, etc.

[Emily]

I don't think Willow "deserved" to die, but I do think that was the most logical way to end the book. I agree with Anna: she walked across the ice because she lived in a bubble and wanted to experience what other children her age were able to do.

[Kari Jennifer]

кαяι wrote: "In Handle With Care, do you think Willow deserved to die? What are your thoughts, feelings, or comments toward this book?"

She didn't seem to be afraid to die...as I recall, her last thought was,
"This time, it was not me who broke."
I cried at that part. It was almost like she accepted that she was going to die.

[Anna]

If you had a chronic illness, would you want to live it to the fullest for a shorter time or would you want to live it longer? I had a professor in college and she opted to forgo a bone marrow transplant (this was in the 1990s) in order to spend more quality time with her husband and college-aged sons. She also didn't want to live for an extra few months and bankrupt her family. Willow was a child; however, do you think she also considered all the sacrifices her family made?

[Emily]

Willow is a child, but she is a very preceptive child. She sees the financial burden her family experienced to some extent. However, Anna does introduce an interesting argument.

[Kelly]

I don't think Willow deserved to die in this book, it was the very last chapter and it seemed like she put it in as an afterthought to add a bit more drama which the book didn't need at all.
The whole situation was pretty pointless really wasn't it? She sued her best friend and 'won' 8 million dollars as their settlement. But never cashed it. She put her best friend through hell and lost her, nearly lost her husband because of it and totally messed up her daughters lives.
The least she could've done was to cash it and donate it to an OI charity.

[Jenni]

I agree with you Kelly. I mean who wouldnt cash an 8 million dollar check if you were hurting for money so badly you were willing to put everyone through that. Annd then Willow dying was very last minute I felt.

[Alexis]

I agree with everyone about this. I think Willow's death was an afterthought. Picoult should have ended the book with the monetary settlement.

[Cody]

Handle With Care was a fantastic read. Despite all the people saying Willow should not have died, I feel it was the best thing for her. Her terminal illness was only getting worse, and I feel she would not want to become any more abnormal and a bigger problem for her family than she was in her current state. Her life ended on a somewhat happy note (she got to go skating!). Even as she fell through the ice, she kept positive thoughts. The ending actually created somewhat of a peaceful feeling for me. All of Willow's suffering is over. No more pain and sadness, only peace.

[Snigdha]

Jodi's books are well researched and her characters have different layers as with all humans. I did feel like I was reading My sister's keeper all over again, however I liked it much better than Handle with care. Why would you go through so much trouble and then not put the money to use immediately? Dint Willow need a bigger wheel chair now that she had outgrown hers? If the rational was to use it in an emergency....invest it so that it grows rather than letting it sit idle. I felt cheated with the ending, almost like ok now I dont know what to do with Willow, so......

[Rachel]

I don't really think it's fair to say that a child "deserved" to die, but I do think it was a logical ending to the story. I can understand where people think her death seemed like an afterthought, but at the same time I also think it was more realistic than ending the book with the settlement. Even with the money, it wasn't going to be a "happily ever after" type of ending. That kind of disease progressively worsens.

I actually liked the way it was written -- after all the attention to Willow's disease throughout the book, ultimately what kills her is something completely normal and unrelated to her illness. I agree with what everyone has been saying about Willow wanting to be like everyone else. Also, because she was so sheltered, she probably didn't have a great awareness of the risks of her behaviour. Someone who has never been allowed to do anything even remotely dangerous in their lives probably doesn't have the most accurate sense of what is actually risky. When she was growing up, everything was treated as a danger. She's seen other kids skating on the ice, so how would she have known it would crack for her?

I don't think Willow died on purpose to spare her family the burden. I think she was just trying to do something normal for once.