Publishers Weekly
An honest narrator grounds this sweet story about two sisters learning to accept their differences-and help each other grow up. The sisters, who live in an exclusive Atlanta neighborhood, both attend "the most prestigious prep school in the South," but while narrator Carly thrives on being an individual, Anna's pretty face and developing body earn her a different kind of attention. Carly stands up for her softer sister often (telling their mom to stop treating curvy Anna like she is fat, for example). She realizes, though, that she is jealous of Anna's looks even though "I'm her big sister, who should be above such things." As the sisters get different friends and interests, Carly spends less time with Anna, and they find themselves saying mean things and betraying each other (Anna even hooks up with Carly's crush). The conclusion gets emotionally overwrought with a teary scene in which the sisters turn into "a puddle of ridiculous-ness," but mostly readers will find both the characters and their problems genuine. Ages 12-up. (May)
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Booklist
A must-read for fans of Sarah Dessen and Justina Chen Headley.
Horn Book
With humor and empathy, Myracle explores the hazardous trails of evolving friendships, unfair teachers, and devastating crushes-and the elastic bonds of sisterhood that outlast them all.
School Library Journal
Gr 8–10—This paean to sisters is flat-out wonderful, full of emotion and bittersweet teenage confusion. It tackles faith, racism, sexism, and the tug-of-war close siblings can engage in while establishing their identity. Free-spirited sophomore Carly reacts against the consumerism of the girls' upscale Atlanta neighborhood while she enjoys what it has to offer. Freshman Anna relies on Carly at their prestigious private school, Holy Redeemer. She has developed large breasts that grant her unwanted attention. Carly helps her sister to face down a bullying coach, and the girls support each other against their über-critical father. Everyone but Carly can see that dependable Roger could be her "love boodle," but she has a crush on Cole, who has "soulful eyes." A sleepover when the girls' parents are away develops into an out-of-control party, and the sisters' trust in one another frays when Carla finds Anna with Cole. Ultimately, however, their bond strengthens. Language is realistic with some swearing. These are girls with hot tempers, bruised egos, and great love for one another. Readers will love them, too.—Tina Zubak, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA
Kirkus Reviews
Predictable territory is made richer by a large cast of multidimensional characters in this work of contemporary realism set in an affluent Atlanta community. Older sister Carly returns from wilderness camp to discover that her little sister Anna has morphed in a matter of weeks from little girl to hottie, just in time for the start of her freshman year at the same Christian private school Carly attends. In first-person narration, Carly styles herself as a free spirit, listening to music from the late '60s and wearing retro, hippie clothes. This spawns growing pains between the two girls, as Carly becomes increasingly critical of the image-consciousness that dominates their family life and the social sphere of their peers, even as she falls deep into a crush on a boy based on little more than surface-level traits. Myracle's spot-on portrayal of a teen stuck in the throes of defining herself based on what she is not rather than what she is allows plenty of room for Carly to muse, grow and change. (Fiction. 12 & up)
