Hi everyone and welcome to the wintry month of June!! This month we’ll start off with a booklist post with six tween titles I enjoyed over the course of the last few years which featured sisters. The number six is an odd one isn’t it, actually it’s even, but I digress, that actually has a reason behind it. So sorry for the little tangential ramble here, but all will be revealed when you decide to continue…
Ahh… you made it. Yes, the ‘even’ number 6, and its deeper meaning. Well, that’s the age gap between my sister and I…, so in the sense of continuity and all that, below you’ll find six tween titles on sisterhood in the booklist below 🙂
My first title, Ava and Pip by Carol Weston (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky; 2014) is an engaging read about two sisters who are completely different to each other. We meet outgoing Ava Wren, a fun fifth-grader and her shy big sister, Pip. When Pip’s thirteenth birthday party turns into a disaster, Ava gets a story idea for a library contest. This laugh-out-loud story is one that tells a tale of growing up as sisters, and is the first in an exciting series. If you are into word-play, this delightful read is for you!! Despite a handful of sad moments, this is a series that will captivate young girls.
This next read, Flora in love by Natasha Farrant (Faber & Faber; 2014) is actually the second installment in the Bluebell Gadsby diaries. Written as diary entries, we venture into an episode of Bluebell’s life where her relationship with her sister gets centre stage attention and everything else gets mixed together!! As much as Bluebell wants a normal life she knows that, with her family, that’s asking the impossible: Mum is behaving strangely, Dad is ‘liberating’ the pets and her sister Flora has fallen deeply and desperately in love. Will anyone notice that Blue is having problems of her own? The drama of this mad-cap family will definitely keep you entertained with this read. It would be best to start from the first book, After Iris, but hey, it shouldn’t matter if it gives you awesome reads like these!!
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams – Garcia (Armistad; 2010) is an award-winning title about an African American family that begins the Gaither sisters series. The girls, Delphine, Vonetta and Fern, were sent to Oakland, California to spend the summer of 1968 with their estranged mother Cecile. Delphine was hoping to learn the truth about the missing pieces of their past. When the girls arrive in Oakland in the summer of 1968, Cecile wants nothing to do with them. Rather than spend time with them, Cecile sends the girls to a summer camp sponsored by a revolutionary group, the Black Panthers, where the girls get a radical new education. I found this exceptionally written story very moving and meaningful. I had a rough idea of the hippie culture and Vietnam War that went on during those years but not about the Black Panthers and the revolutionary groups that were out there at the time. Told from the perspective of eleven-year-old Delphine, who has to grow up too soon and becomes a mother to her two younger sisters, One Crazy Summer is a masterfully crafted story. Though tensions of schoolyard bullying, racist remarks and unlikely friendships that formed in this story were really well described and vividly portrayed. I really hoped for some spark of humanity from the mother as the story progressed but as it ended, I sort of understood why she was the way she was. It’s only fair that this title went on to win both the Coretta Scott King Award for Author and the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction in 2011.
This next read, Sealed with a secret by Lisa Schroeder (Scholastic Press; 2016) is actually the companion novel to My Secret Guide to Paris. When Phoebe finds a beautiful antique at a flea market, she’s not sure if it’s as valuable as it looks. But inside she discovers something truly amazing – a letter, written during World War II, from a young girl to her sister who’s been evacuated from London. The letter includes a “spell” for bringing people closer together: a list of clues leading all through the city. Each stop along the way adds up to magic. Phoebe is stunned. Not only has she found a priceless piece of history, but the letter is exactly what she needs – she’s also separated from her sister, though not by distance. Alice leaves for university soon, but in the meantime, she wants nothing to do with Phoebe. They used to be so close. Now that Phoebe has this magical list, maybe she can fix everything! That is, unless she accidentally makes everything worse instead. I found this a delightful little read!! Following up with the English girls in My secret guide to Paris, Lisa Schroeder takes us to London; to their home and we get to see what makes up their lives. I really enjoyed this book as it talks about sisters; how they grow apart but the bond can never be broken. I really loved all the characters and couldn’t help but fall in love with them all!! The gorgeous descriptions of London’s landmarks and the enchanting story kept me happy for hours too!!
Lily’s mountain by Hannah Moderow (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 2017) is another powerful debut novel of the Alaskan wilderness combined with those family bonds that tie us together. “See you after I touch my toes to the summit”. These are the last words Lily’s dad said to her before leaving to climb Denali, the tallest mountain in North America. Unfortunately, something terrible happens on the way down, and he never returns home. Lily doesn’t believe it. Her dad can’t be gone, taken from her on the mountain. He’s too good a climber. He’s up there, still alive, waiting for someone to rescue him – waiting for her to rescue him. So Lily comes up with a plan that takes her to Denali and on a journey that tests her physically and emotionally. With her father’s voice in her head, encouraging her, she crosses treacherous rivers, climbs scree-covered slopes, and encounters dangerous wildlife, all the while struggling to stay hopeful. I found this a sad and lovely story at the same time. For all her years Lily is a courageous and brave young girl for going after what she wants. I like how Hannah Moderow has described the bond between Lily and her sister Sophie and how it progresses and develops into something stronger as their adventure develops. The setting of Denali and the wilderness around it was vividly portrayed in this book. If you enjoy stories of adventure in the wilderness, then this is the perfect read for you! .
The Forget-me-not summer by Leila Howland (Harper; 2015) is the start of a trilogy all about the Silver sisters. Marigold, Zinnia and Lily Silver are looking forward to an event-filled summer holiday in Los Angeles when their parents send them to their Aunt Sunny’s house in Cape Cod. They’re forced to adjust to a much simpler way of life – no TV, no Wifi, and worst of all, sharing a room. As they start to make friends and see the magic of the Cape, the summer becomes one of firsts, fun, and plenty of sun all while they learn how to band together as the strongest version of themselves they can be: sisters. This first title in a darling little series gave an exquisite story of sisters, family, friendship and summer!! I truly loved this story and remember laughing and crying at the same time many times!! I hope you enjoy this series of summer reads as we follow the adventures of the Silver sisters and their aunt along the idyllic Cape Cod setting.
Well, there you have my selection of tween reads. What do you all think? If you know any other titles, I’d love to hear from you!!
Stay safe and keep reading
Miss Mahee
Miss Mahee's Library of Reads 