Review: Sisters

Sisters
by Raina Telgemeier
Graphix, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-54059-9

Raina is very excited to be a big sister.  She'll have someone to play with.  When her sister Amara is born, things don't go quite the way Raina imagined they would.  Amara is fussy, as babies usually are.  As a toddler, she is still cranky and expresses many a meltdown.  Raina has a hard time playing with her because Amara likes to do her own thing and be alone.  This dynamic doesn't change much as Raina and Amara get older.  By this time, they have a younger brother, Will.  On a road trip from California to Colorado to attend a family reunion, Raina and Amara must deal with each other (in very close quarters) and in doing so, figure out some way of getting along and accepting each other's differences.

This is a true story about growing up with a sister.  Anyone who has a sister can relate to this book.  I know I did.  It is a companion to Telgemeier's 2010 novel Smile, which was about her childhood experience with braces.  If you haven't read it, you must.  Sisters has the same humor and relatability of Smile.  What I liked about it was Raina's experience with her sister is a universal one.  Sisters squabble, they fight about petty things, they get on each other's nerves and push each other's buttons.  But, at the end of the day they are there for each other.  Raina details this in a way that is very real and not at all "sugar coated."  As I was reading this, I instantly thought of my younger sister and how we were growing up and I'm so glad I don't have to relive those years!  Raina's artwork is beautiful.  She uses a lot of bold colors and when Raina has "flashbacks" the pages are yellow, which is a great way to help the reader follow the story.  I love how expressive the characters are and how that emotion supplements and supports the plot.  I would recommend this to reluctant readers or to middle-grade kids looking for realistic fiction.