TITLE: Between Sisters
AUTHOR: Adwoa Badoe
PUBLISHED: 2010
PUBLISHER: Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press
ISBN: 978-0-88899-997-9
PRICE: $9.95
PAGES: 205
SUMMARY: 16 year old, barely literate, Gloria Bampo is a young woman who aspires to sing highlife. Her aspirations are cut short when she fails to pass 13 out of 15 of her final exams. This failure ends her school career and guise as a dressmaker in training. The last thing she wants to do is to become a maid. She's seen first hand the horrible treatment they've recieved by their employers. She also doesn't want to end up hopeless like her unemployed father. She soon learns that life as a failure is hard. Her Auntie Ruby connects her with Christine Ossei, a doctor returning from England, who needs someone to look after her young son. Life with Dr. Christine is simple and good. But being surrounded in this new life of ease ignites a appetite for things. Gloria discovers that she can get things on credit from Simon, a young man with a crush on her.
HONEST OPINION: So....the book is titled BETWEEN SISTERS...but the story is only passively about the sisters. It's more a cautionary tale about this young woman's retail addiction and how coveting led her to obligations that grew beyond her control. The writing is solid - it's definitely not the book for every reader. It was kind of interested to read this tale of this ordinary girl and catching a glimpse into her world. I was not moved by the story - in fact you could probably find other stories similar to this one, and quite possibly, written better. I did not love nor hate this story. It was something to read and it was interesting enough to carry me through the end.
RECOMMENDATION: Meh... Read it or don't. It is up to you.
Audience: Young Adults