When My Sister Started Kissing
Margaret Ferguson Books/FSG/Macmillan, 2017
Ages 10-14 , 208 pages
ISBN: 9780374303037
Claire and Abi have always loved their summers at the lake, but this year, everything’s different. Dad and Pam, their stepmom, are expecting a new baby, and they’ve cleared out all of Mom’s belongings to make room. And last summer, Abi was looking at boys, but this summer, boys are looking back at her. While Abi sneaks around, Claire is left behind to make excuses and cover up for her. Claire doesn’t want her family to change, but there doesn’t seem to be a way of stopping it. By the end of their time at the lake, the two sisters have learned that growing up doesn’t have to mean their family growing apart. WHEN MY SISTER STARTED KISSING is Helen Frost’s beautiful novel-in-verse about summertime and coming of age.
-
- A rebuilt, modern, version of the cabin my family went to on Lake Kabekona, in Northern Minnesota, when I was a child.
-
- Lake Kabekona
-
- I was one of eight sisters, and the book is not about any one of them specifically, but this is me with my sister, Barbara, two years older than I am. We were about 6 and 8 in this picture.
Quotes from Reviews
“…deft, tender, and gently contemplative…” —The Horn Book
“…heartwarming tale of family in the remaking: everything a novel-in-poems should be.” —Kirkus (starred)
“…the story of summer change and growth will resonate with any kid negotiating adolescence directly or by proxy.” —Bulletin of the Center for children’s Books (BCCB)
“Poems from the perspective of the lake the family has visited for years provide calming, ageless counterpart to the girls’ emotional and immediate concerns.” —Publishers Weekly