I loved her and hated her in equal measure, I think. Especially as a teen. As much as we fought in our own house, we presented a united front to the world. As military brats, we were each other’s only constant. We may have thrown forks at each other, but if anyone outside threatened us, we were each other’s shield. When I moved out of the house — and we finally got some space — we started getting along. Now we’re great friends. This is not uncommon, I know. There’s something special about sisters and their relationships. Older sisters set the standards, but have too much responsibility placed on them too early. Younger sisters never got the chance to start with a clean slate. The betrayal of a sister is sharper than anything else, but a sister’s support can make the impossible possible. I love reading about complicated sister dynamics in fiction, especially in young adult fiction. The teen years are a volatile time of life, so sister stories have that much more drama potential. Here are ten young adult books centered around sister relationships. Some of those relationships are sweet, some sour, but they’re all sisterly. I hear a lot of publishers calling for more sibling stories, so I’m excited to see new sister (and other sibling) stories come out in the next couple of years. There’s so many ways for sisters to be, that the stories to tell about them are endless. To find even more sister and sibling books, see 5 YA Books With Crucial Sibling Relationships by Authors of Color, Siblings in Fantasy Fiction, and for a slightly younger crowd, 8 Middle Grade Books About Siblings.
