Sisters Alone

by Shifa Saltagi Safadi

From the National Book Award–winning author of Kareem Between comes a powerful novel in verse about two sisters trapped in a blizzard in a heart-wrenching story of sisterhood and survival.

Two sisters. One storm. A fight for their lives.

Rama is all fire—fierce, quick to anger, and trying to hold her family together while battling the monster of intrusive thoughts. Leena is all ice—quiet, numbed to the vibrancy of the world, as she silently blames herself for their mother’s death.

When their father must travel for work, a sudden blizzard traps the sisters alone at their rural home. As the storm tears through their house, they’re left without power, without food, without shelter—and with no one to rely on but each other.

Told in powerful, poetic verse, Sisters Alone is a heart-stopping story of sisterhood, survival, and the quiet strength it takes to keep going, even when the world feels like it's falling apart.

Genres: Middle Grade, Poetry, Novel In Verse, Survival, Fiction, Audiobook, Family

Audible Audio

Published September 8, 2026

About the author

Shifa Saltagi Safadi was born in Syria and immigrated to the US with her parents when she was a young girl. She is a bilingual Arabic/English speaker, and is very familiar with the challenges of learning English and navigating two languages.
As a mom to four Arab American children and a former English teacher to Middle School students, (and an author!) she now spends her time helping kids develop a love of reading and writing too.

You can learn more about her books on her website shifasafadi.com

Reviews

[Bookishrealm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a much more emotional read than I anticipated!

It definitely is a survival story, but it also captures the various ways in which people process and grieve the loss of loved ones. With other themes that highlight sibling dynamics, the changing of friendships, and more, Safadi crafts a truly beautiful and vulnerable novel. There are also various conversations surrounding mental health that are handled with care and compassion.

To be honest, Safadi is definitely becoming an auto-read/auto-buy author for me.

[Zainab Bint Younus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sisters Alone is a middle grade novel-in-verse for middle that tackles several big things at the same time: grief, anxiety and intrusive thoughts, fraught relationships (especially with sisters!), and survival in a blizzard.

Rama and Leena are sisters who couldn't be more different, and are both struggling with the recent loss of their mother. When they're caught alone at home in a blizzard while their father is traveling for work, the two girls are forced to confront their grief, their conflicts, and their love for each other in order to make it through.

This book does SUCH a good job of handling these big topics in a way that is first and foremost centered on Islam (without being preachy!!!) and gentle at the same time. Shifa does an incredible job of portraying the struggle with intrusive thoughts as well as the anger that comes with grief (and in the end, a healthy way to deal with them!), which is so important for young ones to see reflected.

Also, I had my heart in my throat during the blizzard bits!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pre-order now because this book releases in September!

[Michelle]

Such a great story! It was hard to put down! The story in verse made reading very fast and flow to the next page and the next page.

It was hard to read how each of the family members are surviving the unexpected death of their mother/wife six month later. The weight is crushing each of them in different ways. Each trying their best to stay afloat and show each other they are fine and can help him in the day to day. But they really aren't surviving as well as they think they are. Even the sisters' friendships are on shaking ground.

The sisters are constantly bickering with each other (very realistic). Leena is six years old and Rama is eight years old. Rama feels she has to watch out for her sister and make sure she has everything for school. Leena feels like it's her fault that mom died and Rama hates her because of it. Leena is constantly distracted and forgetful. Rama's frustrations boil over a lot more now, she can't keep her "monster", as she calls it, in check anymore.

They find themselve home alone and don't want to call dad who is on a business trip or he may lose his job and they would lose their home. A series of events has the sisters needing each other more than ever now to get through this together.

The story goes so quickly it would be a great read aloud for classrooms! Keep the students listening and wanting more!

A must-have for all libraries!

#ShifaSaltagiSafadi #SistersAlone #NewRelease #ReadABook #ReadThisBook #Books #Read #MGReads #MGBooks #MGLit #KidLit #ElementaryBooks #ElemReads #Edelweiss #Goodreads #SchoolLibrary #SchoolLibrarians #PublicLibraries #PublicLibrarians ​

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for fans of authors like Jasmine Warga. This middle grade novel in verse story follows two South Asian American sisters left home alone to survive when a winter storm hits their home hard. Told from the sisters' alternating POVs, this is a survival story full of bravery, big feelings, grief, guilt, rage, intrusive thoughts and anxiety.

The emotions dripped off the pages and the author does such a great job putting you in the elder sister's mind. It was excellent on audio and highly recommended for anyone who enjoyed books like The hatchet, Alone by Megan E. Freeman, Living with Viola by Rosena Fung or The children's blizzard. Many thanks to @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review.

CW: loss of a parent, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, panic attacks

[Mimayk Reads · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐ - I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

It wasn’t what I expected. I will admit that I was going to DNF it at the start, but I’m glad I didn’t. It was sad, sweet, and it gave you all of the feels. I wasn’t a big fan of the writing, though.

[Andrea Beatriz Arango]

Loved this one! I'll review closer to pub date <3. In the meantime, get those pre-orders in!

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that makes you immediately pick up the phone to tell your sisters you love them.

Quickly followed by a sister blizzard emergency preparedness meeting.

A must read for fans of verse novels, sibling relationship stories, and anyone looking for an emotional and moving winter read.

Rama and Leena are sisters grieving the loss of their mother in different ways. Rama, the eldest, is quick to anger and consumed by intrusive thoughts. Leena, the youngest, retreats into herself seeming almost numb to life around her. Written in verse, the author writes from both sister’s perspectives in two distinct voices supported by slight shifts in form. I knew which character was speaking immediately and found myself sucked into their inner landscapes wanting to know more and more.

Rama and Leena are supposed to be on a school ski trip while their father is away for business, but the two find themselves in their isolated home alone in the middle of a blizzard. Tensions between the sisters and the intense weather collide when a tree falls into their house leaving the girls exposed to a brutal winter storm. Needing shelter, food, water, and warmth the sisters have to work together to find their inner strength to save each other from the storm outside and the one brewing between each other.

At first I thought this book would be a winter survival story in the tradition of Hatchet (Paulsen), but I was pleasantly surprised by how realistic it was. The girls did not just happen to have expert knowledge on building a fire, knot tying, or hunting. They acted how I think my sisters and I would have, ultimately making the characters and story more relatable.

Overall, the need to solve the immediate problem of surviving the blizzard was perfectly balanced with the sisters managing their grief and relationship ultimately leading to a fantastic representation of mental health struggles. Great for fans of Dusti Bowling’s “The Canyon’s Edge” or Christine Day’s “The Sea in Winter”.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy for review. My opinions are my own.

[Maleeha Siddiqui · Rating 5 out of 5]

My almost 9-year-old read this before I did and she finished it in two sittings! Perfect for fans of Megan E. Freeman's Alone and survival stories in general with a strong emphasis on sisters. You're gonna want to settle in with a warm blanket for this one!

[Panda Incognito · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this middle-grade novel, but it fell flat for me. This free verse novel tells a story of emotional conflict and disaster survival from dual perspectives, going back and forth between two sisters who struggle to get along. A great deal of the page count gets consumed with them sniping at each other. The older sister is struggling with anger and intrusive thoughts. The younger one is astonishingly irresponsible and struggles to follow through on basic tasks, to the point where she probably needs a psychological evaluation. Both girls are also suffering from the loss of their mother, who died suddenly.

The free verse doesn't feel poetic, and is mainly just thoughts and sentences broken up with white space. The younger sister's POV is all in lowercase, which gives her poems even less visual flow and rhythm. I found that increasingly annoying over the course of the book. I also found it frustrating that the plot relied on fairly absurd contrivances, growing more and more over-the-top with each problem that piled on. For example, I find it extremely impluasible that the school never followed up with the dad about the missing permission slip, and that the dad didn't bother to tell anyone at the school that he was going out of the country while the girls went on the school trip. The plot requires an incredible number of dumb choices and weird coincidences to get the girls into the survival situation.

The sibling dynamics were frustrating to read about. The younger sister emotionally falls apart over her older sister holding her accountable for things that are objectively, obviously her fault. The older sister struggles with her explosive temper and is sometimes very unkind, but she is also in a no-win situation, where even just acknowledging basic facts gets seen as blame and superiority. She also has to choose between filling the vaccum Mom left behind and helping her sister do things, or standing by and suffering the consequences of her sister's irresponsibility.

The dad is supposedly really loving and supportive, but this family is floundering big time, without much happening on the page to show positive steps towards coping or solutions. Even though the book ends on a positive note, it seemed like a band-aid over a gaping wound.

I also didn't find the intrusive thought representation compelling in this story. The intrusive thoughts just seemed like normal, standard anxieties to me. Even though the narrative vividly portrays the burning, explosive anger that the older sister struggles with, her intrusive thoughts just seemed like normal fears, and the subjective experience of them never came through.

Maybe I'm a bad judge of this because my intrusive thoughts at the same age were so severe, graphic, and inescapable. But I never felt like this book captured the intensity, terror, or explicitness of intrusive thought experiences. Now, I'm not saying that the book needs to describe anything graphic. But there are ways to describe someone's terrified reaction to having intrusive images pop into their mind, instead of just focusing on basic thoughts like, "What if my loved one gets hurt?" I finished this book unsure if intrusive thoughts just aren't so bad for other people, or if the author had failed to capture the experience.

I expected this book to be a thrilling survival story with a strong emotional core. Instead, I watched these girls get into an increasingly dangerous situation through sheer stupidity and plot contrivances, without enough emotional payoff to make any of this worth it. Other people have enjoyed this book and rated it highly, so I recognize that I am an outlier here. But this did not work for me at all, and I can't personally recommend it.

I received a temporary digital copy from the publisher through NetGalley, and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

In this novel in verse, sisters Leena (6th grade) and Rama (8th grade) are struggling with their mother's death six months earlier, each dealing in their own way. Leena is constuctins a scrapbook to keep her mother's memory alive, since she is sure the death is her fault, and Rama has developed intrusive thoughts that make it hard to even hang out with her best friend, Madiha, without worrying that Madiha will stop being her friend so she can hang out with Kim. As the school ski trip approaches, Rama hopes to spend time with Madiha and repair their relationship, but is irritated because her father, who will be in Japan for work when the girls are on the trip, wants her to watch out for Leena. Leena is constantly forgetting things, and is in danger of not being allowed on the trip because her grades are slipping. On the morning of the trip, Rama is responsible for getting Leena on the bus, because their father has already left, but when the bus driver doesn't have Leena on the list because she forgot to turn in her permission slip, the girls go home. Rama doesn't want to tell her father about the mishap because she is spiralling into a thought that he will lose his job, and doesn't want to call Madiha's mother for help. She and Leena face a week in their house in the country with limited food, but things go from bad to worse when a storm approaching. Leena has already set fire to the microwave by not taking the foil out of some prepared Mac and cheese, and the girls have been constantly bickering. They've had a food fight after Leena left a kitchen window open, broken Rama's phone, and injured Leena. Leena forgets to charge her phone, so when the electricity is off and a tree falls through their roof, they can't summon help. The bundle up in warm clothes (but don't grab shoes) and head to a shed to try to wait out the storm. They do have some helpful talks about their mother and the reason for her accident, but after so long in the cold weather, Rama becomes unresponsive. Will Leena be able to save them both?
Strengths: I've been a big fan of books set during blizzards ever since Haywood's Snowbound with Betsy and Wilder's The Long Winter, so the blizzard setting was very appealing. This is a lyrical, heart print book that offers an on trend look at anxiety and grief. The sisters don't get along, which is not a topic that middle grade literature covers much, with the exception of Davis' Figure it Out, Henry Weldon. The verse format allows the sisters' voice to come through; Leena does not capitalize her i's. The girls cause disaster after disaster, and their survival really is in peril because of all of their poor choices, rather like Ava's in Stranded or Marlo and Amos' in Hashimoto's Off the Map. Even though the are in danger, the girls still adhere to their Syrian Muslim heritage and try to keep up with their prayers. It's not too much of a spoiler to say that there is a happy ending.
Weaknesses: Since the mother's death was so traumatic and the girls are clearly exhibiting troubling behavior, it is a bit odd that they weren't both in therapy. They both make a lot of poor choices, which was hard to read, but probably very true to the choices today's 6th and 8th graders would make. Part of me envisioned an ending to this where both the sisters perished on the road trying to get help!
What I Really Think: This author's Kareem Between had some topical issues that were explored in an interesting way, but this book was just harrowing. Readers who liked Messner's The Trouble with Heroes or Bowling's The Canyon's Edge might like this one.

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Data from 2021 show that 4.3% of children ages 0-17 (approximately 3 million children) have lost at least one parent. (U.S. Census)

Grief takes many forms and in some cases has an impact on mental health. Approximately 25% of bereaved individuals experience anxiety disorders within the first year after loss. (Comprehensive Psychiatry)

Sixth-grader Leena and eighth-grader Rama’s mother died six months before, and both are experiencing grief in different ways. Rama, the perfectionist, is still earning straight A’s and helping her father take care of Leena and the house. Leena is not as reliable and depends on Rama; she thinks she is responsible for her mother’s death. She copes by spending her time, instead of completing her homework, by making a scrapbook of her mother and life “BEFORE.”

Rama grieves differently and begins to have intrusive, even mean, thoughts which affect her relationships. Thinking about Leena,
“She makes me want to spit
FIRE!
I should be patient,
should control my anger, should be kind,
should stop yelling all the time,
but I’m never patient,
never a kind
sister.” (6)
When Rama’s best friend Madiha acquires another friend with whom she shares new interests, such as makeup and clothes, Rama feels left out, and a “monster” surfaces inside her, causing her to tell her friend she hates her.

However, Rama is looking forward to the school ski trip where she can make up with Madiha, and Leena works on her failing science grade to make sure the sisters can attend, especially since their father has to go to Japan for a business trip. When their father leaves and the girls head to the bus for the trip, Leena realizes that she never turned in her permission slip, and the girls are not permitted to go.

Home alone, a huge blizzard strikes their area, a falling tree comes through the roof of the house, and they lose electricity and have to fend for themselves—working together—through all sorts of disasters, such as lack of food and water, cold; Leena breaks her arm and Rama falls into a frozen pond.

This is a survival story—a story of surviving physical and emotional tragedies, of loss, grief, mental health, family, and healing. The story alternates between Rama and Leena’s narrations, written in verse, with a most effective use of arrangement and font style and size, especially repetition for Rama: “I can’t straighten out, smooth down, control.”

It is titled SISTERS ALONE but could be titled “Sisters Together.”

Children need to see their lives and the lives of their classmates reflected in story to feel heard and seen. Story can be instrumental in supporting children and adolescents facing loss and handling grief and those facing mental health challenges—either in conjunction with a loss or not—and also effect empathy for peers who are coping with losses and/or mental health problems. Whole-class selections provide a base for conversations about these topics and create classroom community. Even more effective, five or six novels can be employed for classroom Book Clubs where, in small groups and safe spaces, deeper discussions on sensitive topics such as loss and mental health can occur. Reading individually, self-selected novels on a common theme allow readers to share and compare their characters’ journeys.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sixth-grader Leena is working on a scrapbook filled with happy memories of her mom, who died six months earlier in a tragic accident. Creating the album is the only way that she feels she can keep her mom's memory alive. Since the loss, both Leena and her older sister, Rama, have changed in ways they don't fully understand. Rama has become angrier and struggles with intrusive thoughts. She feels like Leena can't do anything right and that she's constantly cleaning up her messes. She gets easily irritated and has alienated her best friend Madiha too. Leena, meanwhile, is the only one who secretly blames herself for their mom's death.

The sisters have been preparing for a school ski trip, but Leena is worried she won't pass one of her classes and won't be allowed to go. Rama is desperate to fix things with Madiha, who seems to be drifting toward the new girl at school, and she hopes the ski trip will be able to repair things. With her dad traveling to Japan for work, Rama is put in charge of Leena.


On the morning of the ski trip, everything falls apart. Leena is turned away from the bus because she forgot to turn in her permission slip. Suddenly, both girls are stuck at home for the entire week. They decide not to tell their dad, afraid that he will cut his trip short and risk losing his job. At first, they try to manage with what little food that is left in the house, but things quickly become dire when a snowstorm knocks out the power, and a falling tree causes structural damage to the house. Forced to take shelter in a shed, the girls face escalating hardships, and a painful misunderstanding puts them both at risk.

Sisters Alone is from the author of Kareen Between and the Amina Banana series, and is a verse novel that explores sadness, deep frustration, grief after losing a family member, shifting friendships, and evolving sibling relationships. It portrays how trauma impacts people in different ways. It's a beautifully emotional story rooted in the bond between these two sisters.

I loved the variety of writing styles for the verse, from cascading words to the conversational back-and-forth between Leena and Rema. Switching between their perspectives allowed me to understand each girl's grief and anxieties. The vivid winter setting came alive through detailed descriptions like, "salt crunches beneath the tires. Ice covered evergreens line our way." I also really appreciated how their culture shone through in the moments of them completing their five daily prayers. This is a great read if you enjoy books in verse, survival stories or heartwarming sibling stories. The author's note at the end shares her personal experiences with anxiety and intrusive thoughts, along with helpful links for further exploration.

[Helen Baldwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Because knowing my sister doesn't hate me, doesn't blame me... that makes me feel like i can survive anything."

SISTERS ALONE by Shifa Saltagi Safadi is a survival story deeply rooted in the bond between two sisters. It is the engaging story of two sisters who have recently lost their mother, and it is beautifully emotional, utterly gripping, and powerful. Having three sisters myself, I know that sisters can clash, and can hurt each other, but at the end of the day, there is nothing like the bond between sisters. This is a story that could bring you closer to your own siblings. It completely got me.

This emotional story is also a look at mental health, anxiety, and intrusive thoughts. Rama, the older sister, feels like a monster in her head is controlling the emotions she can't share. Leena is quiet, withdrawing into herself and blaming herself for their mother’s passing. Don’t miss the author's note at the end, where Shifa Saltagi Safadi shares her own experiences with anxiety and provides mental health resources for children.

Watching Rama and Leena’s relationship unfold feels so real and true. There is a moment involving a bottle of ketchup that I loved. When they are trapped in a life-threatening blizzard, they survive purely because they have each other. Beneath all the tension, they share a love that is completely unbreakable.

The story is told in stunning verse, alternating back and forth, by both sisters. The contrast between the two girls is made even more striking because Shifa Saltagi Safadi uses distinct text formatting for each sister. Leena's quiet, heavy grief is shown in lowercase lines, while Rama's high-strung panic and intrusive thoughts scream out at you in all caps.

Putting on my Mock Newbery hat, I think this book is outstanding in every way. The Newbery committee looks specifically for "excellence in quality" and the "marked eminence" of a book's individual elements. I think its strongest categories are delineation of character, development of theme, and excellence of style.

A ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ read! Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for providing me with an advanced reader copy (ARC) of SISTERS ALONE by Shifa Saltagi Safadi in exchange for an honest review. @ShifaSaltagiSafadi @penguinkuds

Do you have siblings? I am so immersed in this story that I can’t think of another that captures real sibling dynamics like this one. Have you read this?

[Lia Anshar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group and Toppling Stacks Tours for having me as part of this book tour. Visit this link for the full tour schedule.

Sisters Alone brings you into the life of two sisters in one wild blizzard, and a whole lot of emotions. This book truly hit different. I’ve loved verse novels ever since I read Other Words for Home, so I was super excited to read this one, and it didn’t disappoint. It's a gripping, quick story that draws you in instantly.

Rama and Leena are total opposites. Rama is all fire, quick to anger, and dealing with overwhelming intrusive thoughts. Leena is like ice; quiet, shut down, and convinced she’s to blame for their mother's death. When their father leaves for work, they end up stuck alone at their home instead of going on a school ski trip. Then the storm hits hard; power is out, food is gone, and a tree even crashes into their house, leaving them exposed to the cold. It’s just the two of them figuring things out.

What I loved most is how real it feels. They don’t suddenly turn into survival pros who know how to build fires or hunt for food. They act like actual kids: scared, making mistakes, and learning as they go. It makes them so easy to relate to. The writing is awesome too. Each sister has her own clear voice in verse, and even the intonation shifts a little to match their vibe. You really get deep into their heads.

This story balances survival tension with so much heart. It’s not just about braving the snow; it’s about dealing with grief, guilt, and the messy stuff between siblings. If you like verse novels, real sibling bonds, or you're looking for emotional winter vibe reads, this one’s for you. Short, powerful, and totally worth reading!

[Karen Siddall · Rating 5 out of 5]

A family secretly struggles with their grief after the sudden death of their wife and mother.

Sisters Alone by Shifa Saltagi Safadi is an emotional middle-grade novel written in verse about two sisters coping with grief after the unexpected loss of their mother six months earlier. Eighth-grader Rama and sixth-grader Leena secretly struggle mentally and emotionally in the aftermath of their mother's sudden death, neither one knowing what the other is going through because each claims to be doing okay. The truth couldn't be further from the truth. While Rama feels left behind and abandoned, she is slowly being consumed by rage and the burden of keeping the family together all on her own. Leena feels responsible for her mother's death because it occurred while her mother was running an errand on her behalf. Even their widowed father is finding it difficult to keep it together as he adjusts to life without the woman he loved and takes up the reins of being a single working parent.

On the surface, life has moved on. The sisters bicker as siblings are wont to do; the eldest striving for and demanding perfection, the younger girl careless and inattentive, with a penchant for getting her older sister to pick up the slack. But Rama has her own worries. Her best friend, Madiha, has begun including a new friend in all their activities, and seems to prefer her company over Rama's. Leena, trying to keep her mother's memory alive, is devoting all her time to creating a scrapbook rather than studying and completing her schoolwork and chores. This inattention becomes critical when the sisters are scheduled for a school-sponsored winter break ski trip, and only students who have met all academic requirements and submitted the proper paperwork can attend. Their father is counting on them to go so he can take a mandatory business trip to Japan, leaving the same day the girls will. So when Leena is denied a place on the bus at the last minute, the girls suddenly find themselves home alone with a massive blizzard headed their way. As their relationship troubles and individual emotional isolation come to a head, the storm hits, and the girls must work together under the worst conditions just to survive.

The author's writing is sublime, and her use of verse to tell the story is stylish, precise, and evocative. Told from the alternating points of view of the two sisters, readers are privy to what's really going on inside each girl's head. Both sisters are eminently relatable and engaging. The narratives shift frequently, creating natural stopping points for young readers to pause; however, readers with more time may enjoy the entire family drama in one riveting reading session.

The audiobook edition is co-performed by Victoria Nassif and Rasha Zamamiri, who absolutely convinced me I was listening to two preteen girls, and while the written story is powerful, hearing it read aloud was even more so. Leena’s young agony is heartbreaking as is the older Rama’s, but the mental struggle the older girl is experiencing is intense and comes across so much more when heard. It was hard to listen to her as her “inner monster” slowly engulfed her day by day. I literally needed tissues.

I recommend SISTERS ALONE to middle-grade readers, especially those who enjoy stories about a family in crisis.

[Kirin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel in verse told from two perspectives is best targeted for mature middle grade readers and up that can handle grief, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, survival situations, and injury.  The lyrical writing, quick pace and normalization of Islam into the characters make the pages fly by and it impossible to put down. Do not let the sparse words on the page make you assume the story is simple, the crafting of this book, is nothing short of spectacular. The numerous entry points allow the story to work on the surface, and I can promise you each reading will provide new details and connections to be discovered. From the color motifs, the weight of tragedy, the devastation of loss, the desperation, the self doubting amplified by the past, their girls' ages, and their present predicament, are expertly balanced with the relatability of friend troubles, school trips, grades, comparisons, expectations, and family dynamics.  The heaviness is felt, but the pacing keeps the themes from bogging down the story and allows it to flow effortlessly. The only thing difficult about this book is: one: not spoiling it, hence the minimal amount of inside pages being shared, and  two: not staying up late to read it in one sitting.  

This book would work wonderfully for a book club reading, even for middle school, and allow intuitive discussions about mental health to take place.  The personal backmatter into the author's relationship to both a storm and intrusive thoughts and worries normalize that help is available, that talking to people about our challenges is not weakness, and that understanding and empathy for our ourselves and others are important skills to develop.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A middle-grade verse novel, SISTERS ALONE is a quick read but also a poignant, affecting one. It's a survival story as well as a tender tale about grief, mental illness, and the complicated relationships sisters know so well. Although it deals with some tough subjects, it's a hopeful read, one that emphasizes the importance of family, communication, and healing together.

I especially like that SISTERS ALONE includes religion (the family is Muslim) as a normal, everyday part of life. Their religious beliefs aren't the main theme of the book, but the text does show how the family's faith traditions and practices help bring them strength and comfort as they deal with difficult life challenges. As a devout, church-going Christian, I relate to this. I appreciate when religion is discussed in books in a way that is sensitive and positive, showing how important it is to people of faith. I don't know a lot about Islam, so I enjoyed learning more about the religion. SISTERS ALONE doesn't include a glossary, at least not in the uncorrected proof version that I read, so I ended up Googling a lot of Arabic phrases as well as unfamiliar terms relating to Islamic practices and Middle Eastern food. I would have preferred to have a handy glossary at the end of the novel, but I still felt enriched after all that I learned through my Googling.

For all these reasons and more, I very much enjoyed SISTERS ALONE and will look out for more books from this author in the future.

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for scenes of peril and scary situations

[Serene In Wonderland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished last night but had to recover before writing this review or likely it'd just be lots of nearly crying emojis.

This was so good. I was gripped. I was invested in the characters (RAMAAAAAA!!!). I was left feeling a gratitude for the things I have in my life. Perfect.

Sisters Alone is an MG novel in verse about grief, sisters and surviving a snow storm. It's a quick read and is put together so beautifully.

I loved the difference in capitalisation between the two sisters to reflect their personalities. I loved how naturally Islam was a part of their lives. I loved that, while they made lots of awful choices, none of it was normalised or glamorised. I loved that I could feel deeply for each family member (even though there may have been one sister I wanted to strangle a tiny bit). I loved so many more things.

This is a super clean, Muslim friendly read in relation to the values running through and the content. Technically there's nothing inappropriate for younger ages but it may be more appreciated by 10-15. The characters are in 6th and 8th grade.

CONTENT:
Language: Strongest is one scr*w up.
Romance: None!
Faith: They pray, they talk of istighfar, they use hijabs for survival...
Violence/peril: There are times their lives are in danger. Injury only. No violence.
Other: Intense grief (loss of mother), anxiety and guilt. The characters are struggling with deep emotional issues. They make bad choices but with guilt and desire to do better. Brief mentions of pads and periods.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so good.

If you love books in verse and all the feels, put this on your to-read list. I will definitely be purchasing this for my school library when it is published.

Sisters who lost their mother just six months ago are dealing with their grief in very different ways. Rama, the older sister, is in charge of Leena and feels the pressure of holding the family together. Shifa Saltagi Safadi does a great job of not shying away from mental health struggles, especially Rama’s “monster” that lives in her head. She is angry at everything that is changing and doesn’t know how to cope.

Leena, on the other hand, believes her mother’s death is her fault and pours herself into a scrapbook of “before” to keep her mother alive. She feels like she can’t do anything right, especially compared to her seemingly perfect sister.

When the annual school ski trip approaches, their father has to travel for work while they are away. But when Leena forgets to turn in her permission slip, the girls end up staying home alone for a week. They think they’re prepared—until a blizzard hits, a tree crashes into their house, and they are forced out into the cold.

Even though they’ve been at odds since their mother’s death, their bond isn’t broken. They must rely on each other and their individual strengths to survive and find help.

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to PRH Audio for the #gifted audiobook.

Sisters Alone is a middle grade, novel in verse, heavy, contemporary fiction story of two Muslim sisters (Rama and Leena) who are dealing with an extreme situation on the heels of losing their mother. Each girl is carrying emotional baggage since their mother died in a car accident, and their sister relationship is challenged even further when they become stranded in a blizzard.

What Parents Should Know:
- one character has intrusive thoughts, anger, and anxiety
- both girls suffer injuries and peril when they are stranded during a blizzard

I enjoyed this one a lot, and thought the author created two genuine tween/teen sisters dealing with their grief in different ways. Each girl is in so much pain. It's hard to get through because until the very end, there really isn't any safety net or support for the girls, so readers truly fear what the outcome will be. Their father is supportive but also bowing under the weight of his grief.

I would recommend this one for mature tween readers. The audiobook is powerful and well narrated, but I suspect there is even more nuance to be gained by seeing the words in the poetry format the author wrote.

Key Topics: Friendships, mental health, processing trauma, grief, anxiety, self-doubt, grades, comparison between siblings, ADHD, guilt, and physical peril.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rama is in 8th grade and her sister Leena is in 6th grade. Their mother died 6 months ago and they, plus their father, are still working their way through the grief. Leena blames herself for the death and spends much of her time putting together a scrapbook of "before" and she is very messy, scattered, and is struggling in school. Rama has intrusive, angry thoughts in her head that she refers to as "monster." She is taking on a lot of the responsibility at home, especially around getting Leena ready for school. Rama is also struggling in her friendship with Mahida who seems to be drifting away towards a girl named Kim. When their dad goes on a work trip to Japan and the girls miss a school ski trip, they end up stranded in the house during a raging blizzard and only have each other to rely on. Things continue to worsen as the storm howls and a tree crashes.
This novel in verse about a Syrian-American family dealing with loss, relationships, and survival was a thoughtful look at sisterhood and grief. The poetry was well done and the format was especially solid in how the placement of each characters lines was done as well as the type size and italics to emphasize emotion was powerful.

[Ashley : bostieslovebooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two sisters are trapped alone when a blizzard damages their rural home leaving them with no food, shelter, power, or way to contact help.

This middle-grade novel-in-verse explores themes of survival, sisterhood, grief, and mental health.

The dynamics of the sisters with each other and also with their friends felt realistic. They didn’t always make good choices which was fitting for sixth and eight-graders. Each sister’s character had her own individual voice and personality making it easy to differentiate who was narrating. This was further conveyed in the text via one sister using capitalization and the other written in all lowercase.

There’s enough action in the survival aspects of the book to keep young readers engaged in that tension without loosing sight of the deeper emotional topics. Mental health and grief were handled with care in an age-appropriate way. The Muslim sisters’ faith was represented throughout.

The author ends with a note on anxiety and intrusive thoughts, including resources for children and teens.

Sisters Alone was overall a wonderful read that showed the good that can come from opening up about our struggles and relying on each other – sharing strength and finding comfort and hope.

[Deborah Duncan · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

This short book has a lot going on; teen Muslim sisters living the U.S. who are grieving their mother, the usual struggle around friendships that all teens face, and to top it all off a winter blizzard when their father is away on a business trip. Younger sister Leena holds herself responsible for their mother's death and is forgetful and disorganized while older Rama is struggling with intrusive thoughts and anger while trying to be perfect at home and in school. Their father is doing his best while facing losing his engineering job. All three are pretending to be doing fine while quietly grieving on their own. Things come to a head when father leaves on an important work trip, thinking that the girls are on a school ski trip. They can't go on the trip because Leena forgot to hand in her permission trip, a typical event for her, and the girls are trapped alone at home during a blizzard. Then things get even worse and this turns into a very exciting survival story. I admired the free verse writing style and the full descriptions of the teen sisters' thoughts which is very true to life. This short novel would be an easy read and would also make a great read aloud. Young readers who love a survival story would enjoy this, as would girls who love to read about other girls.

[TheNextGenLibrarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A MG novel-in-verse from the author who brought us Kareem Between.
❄️
When a fierce blizzard traps sisters Rama and Leena alone in their rural home, survival becomes their only focus. Rama struggles with overwhelming intrusive thoughts while trying to hold their family together, while Leena withdraws into quiet guilt over their mother’s death. As the storm destroys their home and cuts them off from help, the sisters must rely on each other to endure the night.
❄️
I thought this was such a powerful story about sibling bonds, grief, and resilience. The verse is beautifully done, and I especially loved the formatting choice of placing each sister’s point of view on opposite sides of the page. It visually reinforced how different their inner worlds are while showing how deeply connected they remain. I also appreciated that it includes intrusive thoughts, something I don’t often see addressed in middle grade. This is an emotional, impactful read and definitely a must-preorder for its September 8 release.

CW: parental death, hospitalization, medical content, hypothermia, grief, anxiety, panic attack

[Shannon Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where to even begin on all the reasons I loved this book? As someone who deals with anxiety and intrusive thoughts, I empathized with Rama and her own struggles with her mind. I also appreciated seeing Leena’s perspective, and showing all the different ways people deal with grief. Some try to ignore it, some try to hold on to what was before, and some try to move on and ignore things in the process. I also loved how creative the sisters were in their survival, and how it takes something big to get people to open up, but that doing so is healthy and the only way to really heal. Overall, I found this book to be realistic (other than the realities of two kids not showing up for a school trip and no adults confirming with a guardian), and the depiction of mental health is so critical for young readers to see that they are not alone, they are not a bad person for struggling with these kinds of thoughts, and that getting help is okay and in fact encouraged. I highly recommend everyone read this book!

[Christiana Doucette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shifa Saltagi Safadi already blew me away with her first verse novel: Kareem Between. And this verse novel brings her same brilliance to the page. Two grieving sisters unexpectedly miss an overnight class trip while their dad is on a business trip, the same weekend that a blizzard hits. When a tree smashes their house, they must find a way through their differences (and different ways of grieving) to trust each other and survive.

I found Rama's persepective to feel especially compelling as she struggles to hold it all together--continuing her good grades and wonderful achievements while struggling with friends expanding friendships to other people, her sister's depression following the loss of their mom, and the intrusive thoughts she's battling.

Like Kareem Between the author has a compelling image system built that she transforms alongside the characters as they each face their own internal monsters.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely but hard middle grade verse novel to read, about two sisters whose mother died suddenly six months earlier, and each have very different ways of handling the trauma. Rama turns to anger, a monster raging inside her wanting to tear everything down. Leena clocks out, making her way through the day only half aware of what's going on. When the sisters get stranded home alone during a winter storm, they'll both need to grapple with their grief and learn to be family again.

My family went through something traumatic when I was a similar age, and one of my sisters and I had very similar emotional reactions. I turned into Leena, my middle sister into Rama. The sisters felt very emotionally true. If sometimes the action felt a little forced, kids will enjoy the survival scenarios. The audiobook was a bit stilted, with odd pauses between words. I listened to an advanced listening copy, so maybe that will get worked out.

[Elizabeth Finn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent YA book written in verse. Loved the bond between the sisters. Great way to talk about anxiety, intrusive thoughts, progress versus perfection with kids. Highly recommend.

“Two sisters. One storm. A fight for their lives.

Rama is all fire—fierce, quick to anger, and trying to hold her family together while battling the monster of intrusive thoughts. Leena is all ice—quiet, numbed to the vibrancy of the world, as she silently blames herself for their mother’s death.

When their father must travel for work, a sudden blizzard traps the sisters alone at their rural home. As the storm tears through their house, they’re left without power, without food, without shelter—and with no one to rely on but each other.

Told in powerful, poetic verse, Sisters Alone is a heart-stopping story of sisterhood, survival, and the quiet strength it takes to keep going, even when the world feels like it's falling apart.”

[Vicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel in verse is told through the two sister’s points of view Rama and Leena. Mama is gone and Leena blames herself, and Rama has anxiety and intrusive thoughts and seems angry much of the time. The girl’s plans to go on a trip don’t happen because of Leena, dad is gone on a trip, and a storm happens and a tree falls on the house. The girls take shelter in their shed, but when Leena gets mad at Rama she leaves. Rama falls through the ice and Leena has to save her. The storm ends, but there is still no electricity. Leena goes to a neighbor’s house but no one’s home. She goes to the road and hears a truck. What happens now? Great survival book about sisterhood and resilience. Quite suspenseful at times.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

[Lyon.Brit.andthebookshelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gifted by the publisher PRH Audio thank you so much for the copy! ✨

Sisters Alone follows Rama and Leena as a sudden blizzard leaves them stranded at home…forcing them to face not only the storm outside but the grief…guilt and complicated emotions they’ve each been carrying. Told entirely in powerful verse…this is a fast paced read that still gives you plenty of space to sit with the emotions💙❄️

I especially loved the sisters dynamic. Their grief creates so much tension between them…while the survival story keeps the pages turning. I already know my middle daughter is going to love this one when she’s a little older. She’s such a fan of survival stories…especially when there’s a little more depth to the story underneath the adventure🥰📚

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