"Your fish is gross." "Your fish is stupid." "Your fish is ugly." "Your fish is stinky." "Your fish is dead." "What?...AAAAAAAAA."
Road trip. That's what Raina, her mother, her younger sister, Amara and their little brother Will have in store for them as they set out to make a family reunion in Colorado. As they pack up and check their lists, Raina asks herself the universal question, "Why did I ever wish for a sister?"
Told between flashbacks and present day this is an authentic story of sister against sister and a family crammed into a Volkswagen bus for hundreds of miles. Clearly the joy of getting a wish come true, a younger sister named Amara, has waned big time. The thrill is gone and all that's left is a sister who is different, beats to her own drum, and doesn't care who knows it.
Raina and Amara fight about everything and Amara is one tough customer.
As the family reunion, the sisters have a chance to see something in each other..maybe even to be glad they are sisters, right? Right, they do, right? Maybe.
This is a coming of age story told alternating with the family back matter that has brought Raina and Amara to the relationship they wrangle with today. Authentic voices that can send a zing or two through you, paint the picture of two girls who aren't meant to be best friends but who are stuck in the same car and the same family, sharing the same changes, some of the same fears and some of the same pain.
She really tells it like it is between sisters.
208 pages Ages 8-12 (grades 3-7) 978-0545540599
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Raina Telgemeier has done it again! She continues to reach tween and teen readers with her humor, candor, teen angst, sister sibling rivalry and captivating art.
Only child Raina dreams of becoming a big sister, but she has no idea how horrible her life is about to become. From the time baby Amara arrives, Raina's world is turned upside down. Not only is she not the center of her parents' universe, she is expected to act like an older sibling. As a toddler and small child, Amara has nothing in common with Raina.
Both girls set off on a road trip with their mother and little brother. The trip takes several days and they see the glorious southwest. The travel by day and camp out at night. Once their van breaks down, the girls are left behind to wait in the car for help or their mother's return. This is just what the two girls needed--time to stew over their troubles and an enclosed territory. They both realize that they are sisters and family and family sticks together through thick and thin.
Tweens and graphic novel enthusiasts will love Sisters. Even though I have no sister, I could empathize with the rivalry between the girls; it's no different with my brothers. All kids vie for their parents' attention and love. Recommended for reluctant readers and visual learners.
Grade 5-up.
Recommended by: Pamela Thompson, Library Media Specialist, Texas USA
See more of her recommendations: https://booksbypamelathompson.blogspot.com
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Raina Telgemeier is back in action with a new graphic memoir!
Sisters, the sequel to her hit Smile, is a sweet story about how it is to grow up with younger siblings. Raina and her kid sister Amara don’t always see eye to eye (like, ever)—Raina is quiet and artistic and prefers to tune everybody out with her ever-present Walkman, and Amara is loud and wild and opinionated and loves to freak her sister out. Raina is beginning to wonder why on earth she ever begged her parents to have another kid anyway!
As the Telgemeier family dynamic starts to shift, though, with the arrival of a younger brother, and the looming threat of their parents getting separated, Raina and Amara start to realize that they need each other more than they ever thought.
Cutting back and forth between the present day and flashbacks to her childhood, Telgemeier weaves a winning story of family and friendship that all comes to a head on an ill-fated family road trip. Spoiler alert: there are car break-downs and snakes! As always, her style of illustration is wonderful and her story is relatable and realistic. Sisters will definitely appeal to older readers (especially anyone who has a sister of their own). It, along with her other titles Smile and Drama, would also serve as great introductions to graphic novels and comics for anyone who isn’t sure about them yet.
Recommended by Molly Crumbley, librarian, Maryland, USA
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Raina Telgemeier's #1 New York Times bestselling, Eisner Award-winning companion to Smile! Raina can't wait to be a big sister. But once Amara is born, things aren't quite how she expected them to be. Amara is cute, but she's also a cranky, grouchy baby, and mostly prefers to play by herself. Their relationship doesn't improve much over the years, but when a baby brother enters the picture and later, something doesn't seem right between their parents, they realize they must figure out how to get along. They are sisters, after all.
Raina uses her signature humor and charm in both present-day narrative and perfectly placed flashbacks to tell the story of her relationship with her sister, which unfolds during the course of a road trip from their home in San Francisco to a family reunion in Colorado.---from the publisher
208 pages 978-1338801880 Ages 8-12
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Sisters is also available in Spanish Hermanas (Spanish Edition)
Raina siempre había querido tener una hermana, pero cuando nació Amara las cosas no salieron como esperaba. A través de flashbacks, Raina relata los diversos encontronazos con su hermana pequeña, protestona, quejica y solitaria. Pero un largo viaje en coche desde San Francisco a Colorado puede que le brinde a Raina la oportunidad de acercarse a ella. Al fin y al cabo son hermanas.---from the publisher
208 pages 978-8416363964 Ages 8-11
