Module 13: Sisters

Book Summary:

Raina wished for a sister but Amara wasn’t quite what she expected. The girls are quite different and their relationship doesn’t improve over the years. They fight constantly and the addition of a little brother doesn’t help with the tension. The parents try to help the tension by giving up their room so Raina can have her own room. Then the family, minus dad, are setting out on a road trip from California to Colorado to visit family. They can’t seem to get along through dinner, a long road trip doesn’t look hopeful. They will travel in a van with no air conditioning and the close quarters along with the rising temperatures do not help everyone’s mood. As Raina tries to drowned out life with her Walkman she soon discovers, through Amara’s close attention, that their parents’ relationship is in trouble. The disappointing visit with family and the realization about their parents results in the sisters turning to each other for comfort. Will this begin to mend their relationship or is this just a temporary truce?

APA Reference of Book:

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

Impressions:

This was a cute and relatable story. I think most children with siblings or other family close in age can relate to the fighting and arguing that takes place in homes. The feelings of being left out when a sibling grows are also addressed. Then there is a small part that addresses the problems with the parents’ marriage and the girls turn to each other with their concern. This is a popular title in my school and I can see how students can relate to storyline.

Professional Review:

In “Sisters,” the latest graphic memoir by Raina Telgemeier, it is the summer before high school and Raina is stuck between a squirrelly little brother and a volatile younger sister in a van without air conditioning. They are on a weeklong drive from their home in San Francisco to a family reunion in Colorado Springs, and as temperatures rise, so do tempers. Raina and her sister, Amara, argue over everything, from what to do about a snake on the loose (“What if we shut him in a suitcase till we’re home?”) to their parents’ relationship (“You don’t think Mom and Dad are gonna split up . . . do you?”). Memories of improbable pet deaths, their father’s unemployment and the difficulties of coexisting in a small apartment are woven into the tale of their emotional and sometimes tense journey through the American West.

Readers may remember Raina from Telgemeier’s “Smile,” published four years ago, which followed her struggles to navigate adolescence, friendships and prolonged orthodontic misadventures. Through “Smile,” I watched Raina grow up and learn to hold her head high, and I was totally rooting for her. Telgemeier’s honesty and humor made it easy to feel as if I knew her. Saying goodbye was bittersweet, so I was excited to read “Sisters.” Although the story follows the same characters who appear in “Smile,” “Sisters” could easily be read as a stand-alone. “Smile” focused mainly on Raina’s struggles to fit in and find her place in school; “Sisters” takes a closer look at sibling relationships, challenges at home and what it means to be a family.

“Sisters” has one of the most accurate portrayals of a family reunion I have ever read. As little kids charge unsupervised through the house and adults exist in a separate realm of arguing, Raina tries to revive her relationship with her cousins after years without them. Although her extended family is friendly, Raina never quite feels included or comfortable. I, too, have spent nights on a relative’s floor in a sleeping bag wondering when the cool older cousins outgrew me. In those awkward moments, I, like Raina, turn toward siblings, because even though we often fight, we’ve got one another’s backs.

Throughout the book, Raina spends a lot of time tuning out the noise of her everyday life. With the help of a Walkman and some cassette tapes, she manages to disappear into her own world. But as the road trip continues, it becomes clear that Amara, though younger, has picked up more clues about what’s going on between their parents than Raina has, and Raina starts to pay more attention.

“Sisters” is a quick read as well as a fun one. Telgemeier uses her expressive, cartoon-style drawings to bring context and emotion to the minimal text, which is almost entirely dialogue. I love her work, not because it is exotic or unusual, but because she writes stories we have all lived, and tells them in a way that feels uncomfortable yet transcendent. “Sisters” is about ordinary family conflict, about things never going exactly to plan. But that is life. The profound thing Raina discovers is that we do not have to navigate the difficulties alone. Whether we are born into one or find one later in life, we have families. And although we may not get along 100 percent of the time, they are there for us during those unforeseen bumps in the road. Even if they will tease us about it later.

Van Wagenen, M. (2014). [Review of Sisters]. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/books/review/sisters-by-raina-telgemeier.html?_r=0

Library Uses:

Sisters could be used in the library as a way to introduce the genre of graphic novels to students. Excerpts can be read and the pictures shown to illustrate to students that there are books that they may want to read. This is especially helpful for reluctant readers. This could also be helpful to assist students who are dealing with difficult situations like those addressed in the book such as, sibling rivalry and parents’ marital issues.