Sisters . . . No Way!

by Siobhán Parkinson

Cindy, a with-it and cynical young teen, still traumatised by her mother's recent death, is appalled when her father falls in love with one of her teachers, a woman with two teenage daughters of her own. Surely he can't be serious? She cannot imagine a worse fate than having a teacher as her stepmother, and as for the two prissy girls - she is never going to call them sisters ... no way!

But, if Cindy dislikes her prospective stepsisters, they think she is an absolute horror - spoiled, arrogant and atrociously rude to them and their mother when they visit her house. Whatever about their mother marrying again, they can't imagine being landed with Cindy as a sister ... no way!

But the parents are going to marry, and the girls are going to be family, like it or not. So who gives in? Is there any room for compromise? Will the unlikely trio of stepsisters ever change their minds about each other?

TWO GREAT BOOKS IN ONE

In a unique feature the girls' stories are told in two separate back-to-back books, one for Cindy and the other for Ashling and Alva. The reader can choose which story to begin with, getting a very different viewpoint on the girls depending on whose side of the story they read first.

Cover of Ashling's

Genres: Young Adult, Childrens, German Literature, Contemporary, Irish Literature, Fiction

222 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1999

About the author

Siobhán Parkinson is an Irish writer for both children and adults. Siobhán grew up in Galway and Donegal. Her books have won numerous awards and have been translated into several languages. She is currently a co-editor of Bookbird, the magazine of international children's literature organsation IBBY. She resides in The Republic of Ireland with her husband Roger Bennett and son Matthew.

Reviews

[Liveta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Prisipažinsiu, knygą įsigyjau vien dėl įdomaus viršelio... Kuo jis toks įdomus? Knygoje pateikti du dienoraščiai - vienas Sindės, o kitas Ešlės. Tad turi rinktis, kurią knygos pusę skaityti pirmiau, pradėti nuo Sindės dienoraščio arba nuo kitos merginos. Gan įdomus žaidimas, nes merginos labai skirtingos. Sindė irzli, nuolat viskuo nepatenkinta, o Ešlė miela ir paslaugi mergina. Nuo kurios pusės pradėjau skaityti aš? Negalėjau išsirinkti, tad užsimerkiau, pavarčiau knygą iš visų pusių ir galiausiai paaiškėjo, kad teks pradėti nuo Sindės!
Perskaičiusi knygą nelikau itin sužavėta. Kažkaip nesudomino manęs pasakojama istorija. Buvo tokių nepatogių situacijų, kai skaičiau ir galvojau ar tikrai tokį dalyką galėjo sugalvoti autorė ir pateikti knygoje, nes knyga skirta jaunesnio amžiaus skaitytojams. Iš dalies pasijutau per sena šiai knygai. BET! Praėjus šiek tiek laiko po knygos perskaitymo, jaučiu, kad man knyga vis dėlto visai patiko. 😁 Tad plėšaus į dvi puses ir negaliu galutinai apsispręsti ji man patiko ar ne ir, ar ją jums rekomenduoti ar ne...

[Filipa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gostei quando o li na minha juventude.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book when I was like 11!

[Ester Falcinelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have been a good book, but something is missing.
The two-way story is interesting, but the characters are all unlikeable. Not one of them acts according to their actual age.
Ashling is a holier-than-thou busybody who takes herself far too seriously for a 16-17 y.o. who hasn't the faintest idea about life.
Alva and Cindy are both spoiled brats throwing non-stop hissy fits. They're supposed to be 14-15, but act like 6-year-olds.
The parents come off as boring, sometimes selfish, illogical cardboard figures who just cannot keep it in their pants.
Also, unfortunately I only read a translation, so something probably went wrong there, but... I just can't with the language and the wording of this book.
No actual, flesh and blood person talks like the characters in this book. They all sound like they're reading out loud some lousy script. Constantly repeating each other's names, scrupolously minding the correct order and construction of sentences... It all comes off as ridiculously pedantic, stilted and stagy.
While the novel's topic is for teens and older, the phrasing seems somehow stuck at a kindergarten level.

[Lara Vehar · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is basically two books in one... you get Ashleigh's diary and Cindy's diary and one is better than the other.

Cindy's diary was okay.. it was mediocre and I hated how nobody adressed the fact that her mother just died ... and her father married one of her teachers 2 months after that - she is angry and upset for two seconds then she just moves on and forgets about it - it was so weird.

Aishling's diary was mildly interesting. She talks about her father leaving her mother and then constantly popping in and out of her and her sister's Alva's lives, she talks about why her mother had to marry Richard and her breaking up with her boyfriend only for him to start dating Cindy so she decides to pretend that she doesn't know him when he comes for a visit was great.

There were some good moments in this book and it had a lot of potential - but it just fell so short... something was missing and I am not sure what it was.

It just felt incomplete.

[Albanian]

Hello. I have read this book in translation into my own language, but I think the book has not been translated as in the original book.
I know this book is two-sided and in the translation book I read are the other two twins Sun'va, Eva and Flavius as he writes in the book. Can anyone help me in the end how their relationship ended, left Sun'va or Flavius returned to Sun'va?.

[Michael Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be flawless. Frequently funny, sad, and insightful, it's also artfully written, extremely clever and with brilliant characters, each facing a separate, difficult journey. The more I think about it the more impressed I am.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read. some funny some sad things. would definitely recommend it.

[Kya- Le Cirque Du Livre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tu y Yo Nunca Seremos Hermanas es un libro que leí por primera vez cuando tenía 11 años.
Mi mamá me había comprado varios libros, tres para ser exactos, de la Editorial Montena y los tres me encantaron [este es el único que sobrevivió a varios cambios de casa desde ese entonces ya que es el único que apareció]
La historia es muy cómica. De un lado del libro esta el diario de Ashling y del otro esta el diario de Cindy. Ashling es la hermana mayor [tanto para su hermana de toda la vida Orla, como para la nueva que será Cindy] ella y su hermana tienen que soportar el hecho de que su madre haya decidido volver a hacer su vida a lado de una nueva persona; mientras que Cindy tiene que lidiar con la muerte de su madre mientras Ashling, Orla y su madre se instalan en su casa.
La mayoría de las entradas de los diarios las puedes encontrar en ambos lados, así ir descubriendo la postura de cada chica con respecto a diferentes cosas. Yo recomendaría comenzar con el diario de Cindy =) ya que el de Ashling llega a arruinar un poco algunas sorpresas.
En fin ^^ este libro me sigue gustando a pesar de los años, esta pensado en el publico infantil pero igual le saca una sonrisa a "los mas grandesitos" en especial si has pasado una situación similar

[Eve Lumerto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertained me as a teen.