SISTERS

Telgemeier, R. (2014). Sisters. New York, NY: Graphix.

This graphic novel is about Raina who when she was little wanted a sister, but once she had her she didn't feel the same.

 Raina, Amara, Mom, brother go on a road trip across country to Colorado to visit family, what’s odd is that dad takes a plane and meets them there.  They bicker and fight all the way but eventually get there.  Once there the cousins aren’t how they used to be and isn’t old enough to hang with them and too old to hang with the little ones, plus the aunts and uncles are discussing grown-up stuff, so she is left feeling like she doesn’t fit in anywhere. 

I absolutely love the animation in this book, the faces make you feel exactly what they are going through.  The two sisters are complete opposites and remind me of my sisters, being 4 years apart we hardly had anything in common, we realized how we needed each other as we grew up.  The genre of the book comes through as graphic memoir because it’s about her relationship with her sister. The added photo album at the end of the book is a great peek of their childhood.   Raina’s notices her parents are having problems of their own when the dad says “I’d just drive your mother crazy.”  Her mom tries to cover it up and say that everything will be okay.  This shows the reader that everyone has problems and cope with them in different ways. 

On the way back Raina and Amara are left alone while their mother and brother hitchhike, something that would be too scary for me to actually do.   While they wait a long four hours, they have a run in with a lost pet snake and they work together to capture it.  As they drive home, they did what my sisters and I do when things are okay between us again, give each other “the ok I know you’re on my side look”, no words needed.  Sisters is from the authors YA list assigned to read. 

Here’s a trailer from Scholastic https://youtu.be/SsEXPhq0aIU

 These are a couple of other books written by Raina Telgemeier.