Three sisters

by Norma Fox Mazer

All the talents in Karen's family were taken up by her older sisters: Liz is the beautiful one; Tobi is a talented artist. And Karen - she's just the little Freed girl.

The only one who takes her seriously is Scott, Liz's almost-fiance. He helps her find a summer job. He lets her take care of him when he's sick. He understands how she thinks, who she is. And when he kisses her, Karen is sure she's found someone who thinks she's special.

Funny how wrong a little sister can be.

Genres: Young Adult

Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Norma Fox Mazer was an American author and teacher, best known for her books for children and young adults.

She was born in New York City but grew up in Glens Falls, New York, with parents Michael and Jean Garlan Fox. Mazer graduated from Glens Falls High School, then went to Antioch College, where she met Harry Mazer, whom she married in 1950; they have four children, one of whom, Anne Mazer, is also a writer. She also studied at Syracuse University.

New York Times Book Review contributor Ruth I. Gordon wrote that Mazer "has the skill to reveal the human qualities in both ordinary and extraordinary situations as young people mature....it would be a shame to limit their reading to young people, since they can show an adult reader much about the sometimes painful rite of adolescent passage into adulthood."

Among the honors Mazer earned for her writing were a National Book Award nomination in 1973, an American Library Association Notable Book citation in 1976, inclusion on the New York Times Outstanding Books of the Year list in 1976, the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1978, an Edgar Award in 1982, German Children's Literature prizes in 1982 and 1989, and a Newbery Medal in 1988.

Mazer taught in the Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children & Young Adults Program at Vermont College.

For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/norma-fo...

Reviews

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently I first read this in 2005. I had no recollection of it.

I really could picture each sister and feel for each of them., to be 15, 18, 21. Karen's feelings are so real relatable, and her actions too (though I think most of us would only would have imagined them and never carry them out).

Mazer just has a knack for capturing those moments.

And, oh, the men. I wish we'd progressed more since the 80s, but I can picture each of the males in the story, too.

[Reading with Cats · Rating 1 out of 5]

Weird, off-putting voice and whiney MC = a hard DNF

[Lobstergirl]

There was the sister that looked like Cheryl Tiegs...the sister that looked like Rachel Maddow...the sister that looked like Phoebe Cates...

[Laina SpareTime]

Cross-posted from my blog where there's more information on where I got my copy and links and everything.

This is a weird book. The voice is strange. Maybe I’m just not that used to reading third person these days, but it was very removed. Surprisingly, despite being written in the peak of the 80s, it’s not technology or fashion that dates this book the most, but the attitude. Because I am sorry, but if you are 21, and the guy you are dating, who is your age or older, comes onto your fifteen year old sister and kisses her, you do not get mad at HER. You get angry at him, and possibly murder him and bury his body in the woods where no one can ever find it.

Seriously that boggled my mind. Honestly, it’s no wonder that YA started having overly-perfect and idealized male characters. Every dude in this book besides their dad is a creep! And even their dad is kind of bland. Karen’s boyfriend won’t spend 5 minutes without pushing her for sex she’s not ready to have, or interested in having, he can’t say anything nice about her but “she’s okay”, and he immediately starts dating her best friend after they break up. Liz’s “almost-fiance” is, again, a 21 year old who thinks it’s okay to kiss a 15 year old and then pretty much blames her for it. Tobi’s boyfriend is a 35 year old professor (with a 14 year old daughter) dating his 18 year old student, and physically and emotionally abuses her.

The weirdest part of this is it’s kind of a dull book. Not a ton happens and the plot is really slow. I dunno, it was just kind of boring. My copy is also really beat up and I actually had to tape it back together to be able to read it, so I’m just gonna pass this one along. Not one I’d reread. This was re-released as an ebook in 2015, and I can’t say I’d really recommend it, even though I’ve enjoyed other books by the author.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This year will start with some quality writing aimed at teens now that I am working as a high school teacher. I can see why teenage girls would like this book! Plenty of angst, love/infatuation confusion, and real-life traumatic things in a safe setting. It is well-written and although it leaves an open-ending on all the story lines, it drops us off at a comfortable place to rest. I like this author’s style and am probably going to read another teen novel by her to see if it permeates all her books.

[JH · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m surprised by how little I liked this book. It should be right up my alley- family drama, YA voice, romantic subplots. Instead I really didn’t like the relationship between the sisters- they didn’t really seem to have each others backs. Tobi, specifically, seemed really manipulative and conniving. Karen’s best friend Marisa was just awful. The boyfriends that Karen, Tobi and Liz had were all awful. The grandma was awful. The vacation they took was awful. Nothing redeeming about this book at all.

[Doris Ware · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book

[Valentina Luetzeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

i think it was a great book but Karen did like everything wrong and just kept going. But I can also relate to her by being the youngest and I liked that

[Yana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked the first chapter. Usually it takes me a while to fully dive into a book, but in this book I was surprised after reading the first page and noticing how fast I could dive into this one! But this book did not fully grab my attention, instead it became a "I'll read it later" sort of book. I don't know if this was a big topic to talk about in the 80s or what, but this book is basically Sex Ed/Health Class. I guess this could be counted as a "real life" type of book, because some teenagers may go through such a phase in their lives. But I don't know if it is appropriate to have anyone younger than 15 or 16 read this book (There are some sexual scenes and topics in this book, but then again there weren't very many of them). The main character got me so mad at times! I kept asking and saying "Why?" or "How stupid of you to do that!" This character is just self centered, crazy at times, stupid, and overly dramatic about everything. The chapters in this book are short and that made it a bit easier and faster to read. The ending did not appeal to me, it was bland and didn't feel like a proper ending.

[Jenni]

Swedish title: Syskon kärlek

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having two sisters, I found this book relatable. Out attitudes are similar to the sisters in the story. Good beach read.