Book Review: Sisters

Sisters
By Raina Telgemeier
Scholastic, 2014
Reviewed from NetGalley
Audience: Grades 5 to 8
ISBN:  9780545540605
Publication Date:  August 26, 2014

In this companion book to Smile, the dynamics of Raina's family are tested as the family goes on a week long road trip to Colorado from San Francisco.  Anyone that remembers traveling in the 90's with no air conditioning will feel the narrators pain.  Mostly, it's a story about Raina and her sister, Amara and their contentious relationship.  At first, Raina is excited to have a sister, but the screaming baby that her parents bring home does not exactly fit the bill.  And it doesn't help that Amara turns out to be extremely headstrong with a love for reptiles.  While the two seem like they are vastly different, they are actually quite similar, the curse of all sisters!  The story is told through the main plot of the road trip and flashbacks to the past to fill in some of the story.  Fans of Smile will certainly love Sisters.

As a sister, the younger sister, I could strongly relate to this book.  Plus, Raina is about my age, so there's something rather nostalgic in these pages for me.  I would recommend that 30-somethings read this book for fun because you will inevitably see yourself in the pages.  

Like Smile, Sisters seems to be as much about family life as it is about humor.  I think that is part of the appeal for readers.  It's not just a story, it was someone's life, but since it's presented as fiction, and presented as a graphic novel, it makes all of life's funny little stories that much more interesting.  I think that this type of story works so well as a graphic novel because the author is able to use the illustrations to make everything more over the top and really express how the characters are feeling and acting.  

I pulled this book from NetGalley, so I was reading an unfinished, mostly black and white digital edition.  I can only imagine from the few full color illustrations how amazing this book is going to be in its finished state.  I highly recommend this book for all fans of Smile and Drama, and for any adult that needs a little taste of the past. 

Happy Reading!