When My Sister Started Kissing

March 13, 2017
In Frost’s contemplative novel in verse, sisters Claire and Abigail have recently gained a stepmother and are soon to have a newborn sibling. Claire, 10, is resistant to these changes and is especially bothered by the growing distance between herself and her older sister, who insists on being called Abi and has “betrayed” her by accepting their stepmother. Last summer, Abi had her first kiss; this summer, she’s torn between two boys. Poems from the perspective of the lake the family has visited for years provide calming, ageless counterpart to the girls’ emotional and immediate concerns. Frost (Applesauce Weather) adeptly uses different poetic forms to differentiate her characters (mostly quatrains for Claire, free verse for Abi), as well as acrostics and concrete verse, lending a sense of movement to poems in which Claire is kayaking. Although both sisters’ perspectives are represented, Claire’s motivations and personality are better established. Readers will easily identify with her efforts to honor her late mother’s memory while accepting her shifting relationships with Abi and her growing affection for the new members of her family. Ages 10–12. Agent: Ginger Knowlton, Curtis Brown.

Starred review from December 15, 2016
A young girl and her sister share a pivotal summer at the lake with their family. Following on Applesauce Weather (2016), her recent book for young middle graders, Frost again explores familial intimacy from a number of revealing perspectives. In poems told mostly from 10-year-old Claire's vantage, her 13-year-old sister, Abigail, negotiates her budding adolescence and feelings for two boys at the lake where the white family vacations each summer. Claire marvels at Abigail's transformation into "Abi," the "queen / of Eastside Beach," who's developed a "whole new talking-to-boys voice." Both girls also reckon with the infusion of their new stepmother and a baby on the way into the family dynamic they've known with their father since their mother died suddenly when Claire was an infant. Frost deftly shows the value of openness to compassion and personal growth among parent, child, and sibling, using her mastery of poetic form to subtly introduce differences of voice in the poems of Claire, Abi, and the somewhat omniscient perspective of the lake itself. With her signature formalist touch, Frost plays with acrostics and other forms, occasionally embedding well-known lines of famous poems into her own; notes to these are in the backmatter. Frost pulls out all the stops in this heartwarming tale of family in the remaking: everything a novel-in-poems should be. (Verse fiction. 10-16)

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January 1, 2017

Gr 5-7-Claire, 11, and her older sister Abigail, 13, have always been close. Their mother died when the girls were young, but their father made sure they had a happy childhood. An important part of their family history has been the month they spend each year at their cabin at Heartstone Lake. Although it was the site of their mother's death, Claire and Abigail love it because their mom loved it, and they feel connected to their mother through their shared experiences on the lake. This summer, however, the girls have a new stepmother and a baby brother on the way. When Abigail, now "Abi," starts spending time with a boyfriend rather than with her sister, Claire feels isolated from everyone in her family. The story unfolds in a series of quatrain, free verse, and acrostic poems that present the perspectives of Claire, Abi, and the lake itself. Each new image adds to the last, creating a complete mosaic by the end of the month at the lake. Some of the poems contain both text and a subtext so that readers can decode added meaning through certain words or letters in bold type. Frost, the author of Keesha's House and Salt, uses the verse format effectively, showing the development of each of the characters in brief, well-chosen vignettes. VERDICT An insightful portrayal of a family in transition. For tween readers who appreciate lyrical writing and coming-of-age tales.-Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2017
Grades 5-8 Eleven-year-old Claire and thirteen-year-old Abigail have lived alone with their father since their mother died when Claire was a baby. The three have spent a month at the lake every summer, but things are different this year. Their new (pregnant) stepmom is coming, while their mom's belongings have been packed away as if she'd never been there. Abigail declares she wants to be called Abi, and all she can think of is boysand kissing them. When Abi starts sneaking out to hang with other kids, Claire is left alone to cover for her. But as the sisters grow apart, they learn that family is what ties them together. This novel in verse, set entirely at the family cabin, is told from the sisters' points of view, with Claire's in quatrains or verse with cleverly hidden feelings, and Abi's in free verse. The challenges born of the family's disrupted status quo, the peacefulness of kayaking, and the trials of becoming a teenager bring a realistic and insightful quality to the young girls' coming-of-age story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)