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Wednesday 1 February 2012

The Worst Thing About my Sister by Jacqueline Wilson

The Worst Thing About My Sister

Being a sister isn't always easy...but what's the very worst thing about your sister? Marty and her sister Melissa couldn't be more different. Marty loves her Converse trainers, playing football, hiding in her secret den and helping her dad with his DIY. But Melissa loves Justin Bieber and all things pink, girly and pretty. The sisters can manage to live together, despite their occasional scraps but then Mum tells them they have to share a room. For Marty, having to share her bunk beds and lose her private sanctuary turns out to be the very worst thing about having a sister. But the girls soon discover that being too close for comfort can have unexpected consequences, and when an accident happens, the sisters realise they are closer than they thought.

Jacqueline Wilson has done it again! Her new book is brilliantly written and again has a serious message - don't fight with your sister and especially don't push her off the top bunk of bunkbeds. 


As with all of Jacqueline's books, the writing is superb and throughout the story, there are Nick Sharratt's fantastic illustrations which accompany the story perfectly.


The main character is Marty (Martina) who is a tomboy and her sister, Melissa, who is a real girly girl. Due to their mother being given the oppurtunity to set up her own dressmaking business, Marty has to give up her room, Marty's Den, and move in with her sister.


Sibling rivalry is the main theme of the book and while reading it, it was evident that Marty and Melissa were vying for attention and because Marty was not a typical girly girl, she struggled with friendships and also her relationship with her parents, especially her mum. 


I love all of Marty's cuddly toys - her own creations, especially her porcupine, which was a teddy bear with a hairbrush stuck to its back. Marty seems to be very creative and her ideas are throughout the book. Marty 


There is also extra material at the back of the book - reading notes which would be great for children's reading groups or classroom discussions, some of Jacqueline Wilson's favorite children's books which include sisters (there are some fantastic classics included), extracts of two of Wilson's earlier books which include sisters: Double Act and My Sister Jodie, and finally a quiz about her earlier books. 






Thank you to Michael from The School Run Forum and the publishers, Doubleday, for sending me the book to review.

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