The Sisters Club: Rule of Three

Middle sister Stevie Reel knows that there really is a rule of three. Everything seems to come in threes. There are three sisters in her family, and that’s not all. As she says, “Think about it: Red, white, blue. Snap, crackle, pop. Bacon, lettuce, tomato.” (p.1) Sometimes Stevie is a bit jealous of her friend Olivia who doesn’t have to live in the midst of a three sister family, since she is an only. She doesn’t have to worry about living up to the idea of herself just because that’s who people think she’s supposed to be.

For example, Stevie’s older sister Alex is the actor of the family. The Reel’s are all dramatic in their own ways, but Alex typically gets the lead in every school play. Her whole existence seems so scripted that she even acts out dialogue with her Sock Monkey in order to work through her personal drama.

Little sister Joey is a bit of an instigator as well as a list maker, a girl with a cause (Locks for Love), and currently is obsessed with the book Little Women. She is also in the unique position as the secret keeper, since both older sisters come to her to complain about each other!

Stevie is the baker. Her frustrations and worries get channeled through the creation of such recipes as “Don’t-Bug-Me-I’m-Baking” cupcakes, or “I-Hate-My-Sister” cupcakes. She likes baking so much that she is hoping to enter her local cake off, and maybe even win a prize.

So there they are: three sisters, with three roles to play.

But identities have a way of shifting, and when the new school play is decided to be Once Upon a Mattress, Alex decides she is sick of musicals, and Stevie, who loves to sing, thinks that this might be the time that she wants to stick her toes in the waters of acting. After all, she does have the voice, if she doesn’t have the acting skills. When Stevie decides to go out for the play, and Alex decides that she wants to audition after all, the family will be facing sibling rivalry like never before!

Megan McDonald has written a fun and breezy read for tweens. Chapters alternate and highlight each sister’s unique voice. Alex’s voice is shown in script form, Joey’s is lists, diagrams and statistics, and Stevie is given the voice of straight prose. There are all kinds of magazine style fun facts throughout (like the fact that a bunch of gnus are called an implausibility), and Little Women related quizzes. It’s a quick read, and the age range of the sisters mean that readers will most likely find somebody to identify/sympathize with.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Okay, okay...I know that I am late to the party on this one. The problem is that this book stayed checked out from the moment we got it in at the library until the last day of school! I finally found it at my local public library, and happily read it in anticipation of #3 coming out this fall.

Greg is just a typical kid trying to make a go of it in middle school. His mom gave him the journal (NOT a diary, thank-you-very-much!), and he figures that it'll save him time when he gets older and famous in that he won't have to explain his upbringing. But before he gets famous, he's stuck negotiating the halls, Hallowe'en, the school play, as well as the world of popularity and girls.

Greg is trying to convince his friend Rowley that it is time to grow up a bit. Why can't Rowley ask him to "hang out" instead of "play"? Especially when they are in the hallway at school. The thing is, as much as Greg's big brother and some of the other kids at school aren't so nice to Greg, Greg is not very nice to Rowley either. He mainly uses him to get to play video games when he is punished. Can their friendship survive middle school?

Filled with funny and gross moments (like the cheese on the playground, and the Big Wheel birthday), Jeff Kinney has certainly struck a chord with readers. The comic style illustrations pepper the pages and add extra doses of humor to the book. I can say with authority that both guys and girls love these quick reads, and I myself cannot wait to finally get my hands on the second one.

There is certainly a lack of books for tweensters with male protagonists, and there is a lack of funny across the board. Diary of a Wimpy Kid fills these holes with panache. Do yourself a favour if you haven't already...buy multiple copies!