Saxton Reads! & Reviews

****

Reviewer: bas bleu

Weird Sisters - Eleanor Brown

What did I love about this book? First of all, I found the first person plural narration intriguing. I don't remember ever reading another work from this point of view. Secondly, I connected with the characters...anyone who has a sister could relate to how Brown explores sibling relationships. Thirdly, having been an English major, I must admit to loving the character of the father, who speaks to his family in Shakespearean verse. And most importantly, I connected with the characters' reverence for books, reading, and libraries.

I love books that make me reach for my pen and paper so I can write down quotes I don't want to forget. Here is a sampling:

"We've all done foolish things, dear. In my experience, good people punish themselves far more than any external body can manage. And I believe you are a good person. You may have lost your way more than a little bit, but I believe you can find your way back. That's the trick. Finding your way back." (p. 12)

"How can we explain what books and reading mean to our family, the gift of libraries, of pages?" (p. 70)

"But that is why he loved her better than we did - we loved her so much for her strength that we could never let her be weak, and he loved both parts equally." (p. 107)

"I don't know. I keep waiting to feel old, to feel like a grown-up, but I don't yet. Do you think that's the big secret adults keep from you? That you never really feel grown-up?" (p. 188)

"How old were you when you first realized your parents were human? That they were not omnipotent, that what they said did not, in fact, go, they had dreams and feelings and scars? Or have you not realized that yet? Do you still call your parents and have a one-sided conversation with them, child to parent, not adult to adult?" (p. 238)