Sister of the Quints

by Stella Pevsner

Emergency babysitting for her stepmother's quintuplets cuts into Natalie's social life and the media attention that quintuplets bring complicates matters, but Natalie resists the temptation to return to her real mother when one of the quintuplets is kidnapped

Genres: Young Adult, Childrens, Family, Middle Grade

180 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1987

About the author

Stella Pevsner, who is the author of eighteen books for children from 8 to 13 years, was voted Illinois Children's Book Author of the Year 1987. Among her awards are The Golden Kite; the Carl Sandburg, the Society of Midland Authors, Arkansas State, Virginia State, and the Dorothy Canfield Fisher.

After a career in advertising and freelance writing, she turned to children's books at the request of a young son who said his favorite author "didn't write fast enough." She wrote a book to fulfill her role as "the invincible parent" and enjoyed it so much that after the book-by-request (Break a Leg!) was published she kept on writing.

Early favorites among her books are The Night the Whole Class Slept Over; Me, My Goat and My Sister's Wedding; A Smart Kid Like You; Cute is a 4-Letter Word; Sister of the Quints; I'm Emma: I'm a Quint. One of her prize-winning novels, And You Give Me a Pain, Elaine describes how a girl survives life with an out-of-bounds teenage sister and then a greater family tragedy. Teen suicide and its after-effects on the family is the subject of another awards book, How Could You Do It, Diane?

Her experiences tutoring at Literacy Chicago led to a book which depicted the life of her Chinese student, an outcast in north Viet Nam during the war. The young girl, along with other children, hid in the jungle during air raids, and finally, was forced to flee with her family. The book, called Sing for Your Father, Su Phan, is treasured by the former student, now a Chicago salon owner, as a record of more difficult times. A continued association with the Chinese family inspired Stella Pevsner to write a book about the friendship between an Asian and Caucasian girl, titled, Would My Fortune Cookie Lie?

Jon, Flora, and the Odd-Eyed Cat describes the secret meetings on summer nights between a boy recovering from rheumatic fever and the never-seen-in-daylight girl who owns a mysterious cat. A girl who feels the whole world has gone berserk is the heroine of Is Everyone Moonburned but Me?

"Although some of my books deal with serious situations in the lives of children, my underlying theme is that there is always hope and yes, humor, in day-to-day living," the author says. In her frequent speeches to school children, she urges them to do their best since, in the words of Samuel Boswell, "The future is purchased by the present." She hopes that kids who enjoy her books will be encouraged to go on reading forever.

Reviews

[CLM · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very realistic and entertaining book about a teen coping with her father's remarriage - and then getting the added blow of multiple half-siblings!

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw the other cover first, but somehow the title struck a chord in my memory... then I saw the original cover! I definitely remember this one. I had three younger siblings that I often baby-sat for and as a pre-teen I certainly appreciated the main character's struggles with five identical younger siblings.

[Julia L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sister of the Quints
This Quarter i read the book Sister of the Quints by Stella Pevsner. Its about a teen named Natalie who mother and father got divorced and her mom moved to Colorado Springs. Her father also got remarried to a women named jean, then they had quintuplets named Alice, Beth, Craig, Drew, & Emma, named after the first five letters in the alphabet. There also is this boy named Noel who Natalie has a crush on but her friend Michelle also likes him so there kinda in a love triangle.

It was nice that the author mentioned what all went down when Natalie's parents got divorced and the conversation that her and her mom had about her mom moving to Colorado and her wanting Natalie to go with her in (ch.3 page19). I also like how the author included how Natalie really felt during some situations because her character sometimes didn’t express them to the other people in the book. This book also shows how the real life of a teenager can be or feel and the drama of school.

I would recommend this book if your into more realistic books with realistic scenarios. My favorite part of this book is when Natalie decided to go live with her mom out of love instead of anger(page 177) This book was pretty easy to understand except sometimes I couldn't tell if Noel and Michelle where dating or if they were just friends but i figured it out after a bit. Some parts of the book where predictable which was kinda sad because i like it when books keep me guessing. Some connections I made with this book is helping take care of my siblings even tho I'm the youngest my older siblings act like three year olds. I like the author's style of writing and it shows Natalie's emotions because sometimes you don’t get that information in books.

Over all I personally think it was a great book and I'm glad I chose it. Thanks for reading.

[Audrey Ettinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remembered this book mostly because of the multiples! Mostly it's really about Natalie figuring that she belongs with her mom (who has inexplicably and irresponsibly moved out of town -- perhaps because the idea of her ex husband having quints is unbearable). The babies are entertaining, but way too easy (even though N finds them exhausting). Friend group, new boy-as-friend-but-maybe-more, and Jealous New Girlfriend of Casual Ex-Boyfriend add some interest.

Stepmom who is overwhelmed but really loves N is a nice touch.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this in the free bin at the library and it was a relatively cute juvenile fiction about an older sister from a broken family, whose new step mom has quintuplets. It was cute enough, as the girl figures out middle school emotions with boys and sports and the family dramas. There was a subplot not fleshed out about mental illness in a friend, but that never really resolved. Interesting.

[Tonya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had not read this book since I was a teenager, but it was still a good read. I used to get books from this club called Especially For Girls, and this was one of the titles I got back then. Such a blast from the past to read it again.

[Reading with Cats · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
This was so good!

[Tiffany Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sister Of The Quints
PLOT: Natalie Wentworth can't seem to get away from the title "sister of the quints". Shortly after her mother and father's divorce, her father remarried again to a lady named Jean who soon after that gave birth to quintuplets. Or as Natalie refers to them "pests". Feeling taken advantage of and ignored at home because of the babies, Natalie comes to realize that despite the good things there in her life (her friends Jiggs and Claudia and potential boyfriend Noel) where her place really is (with her mother in Canada). Only things don't turn out quite that way. Not until there's an incident after the quints first birthday involving threatening calls and a kidnapping that Natalie and her mother both come to the same conclusion about a mother's need and love for their children.

MY THOUGHTS: This is one of the older books I've always had and liked from a long time ago. Even though it was a very light read it was heartbreakingly sad. One of the main thing's it touched on was a sibling's hurt and frustration over what she felt was her lost identity. I found myself getting angry with the parents because Natalie didn't have the babies, but in a lot of ways, she was expected to grow up and be the parent and not just be a teenager. Particularly the Dad who made it seem like this (his) responsibility was hers. He actually has the nerve to complain that he has to come home and watch his own kids. THEY'RE YOUR KIDS! And then trusts to shed tears in the end when she tells him he's leaving. Can you really blame her? Weren't you the one that yelled at her when she wanted to pursue her own interest outside of the quints? I didn't feel sorry the least bit for the Dad. At least Jean tried to be a little understanding and take Natalie's feelings more into consideration. You don't have to be the sister of quints to sometimes feel like in a family (big or small) that your voice can be lost in the crowd. Or not heard at all. Natalie isn't the only one forced to grow up. It was heartbreaking not only to see Michelle confused about why taking Alice was wrong but what lead her to do it. Her mother is such the controlling type that she doesn't even see the harm she's doing to her daughter in trying to force her to probably live out some fantasy that she's wanted for herself through her daughters. The story doesn't say this but I can just about guess that's the case here. And for the record Michelle just sounds girly (the doll, the pink Swiss room). It doesn't say what happens to her at the end but I hope that poor child got help. As for the kidnapping itself, NEVER SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED! I know this lady is older but I'm surprised she wasn't fired on the spot after Alice was found. I watched kid's (not that young) a hot second and even I know that you can't take your eyes off babies (especially that many) for a second. If the phone rang either she should have left the machine pick up or if there wasn't one and she couldn't get them all inside just not even try to answer it. What she did was taking a HUGE risk! And Jean and the Dad were very gracious to still keep her around after that. If she were watching my baby (if I had one) I don't think I would have been because what if it would have been a *real* kidnapper. They've just been splashed all over the news. Some sick person might have seen it as a way to get some quick ransom money.


RATING: 8 I liked the messages that no matter how many children a parent has each and every one is special and can't be replaced. Also, the end message that no one should be lumped into a package and that each of us are our own individuals. Shown in the way Natalie wants the quints to be called by their own names (Alice, Beth, Craig, Drew, and Emma) and also have them go to separate schools. I also thought it was cute that she named that after the letters on their cribs at the hospital that were (A, B, C, D, E) and didn't make their names into nicknames and keep them short, sweet, and simple.

[Swankivy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a book about a girl whose stepmom has quintuplets and the only thing she ever gets known as is "the sister of the quints." She's expected to help take care of them and deal with all the publicity. Weirdly, I don't really remember much about the book because I was expecting more focus on the babies. I liked kids, especially multiples, and it seemed like it didn't hold my attention because I mostly cared about hearing about the quints myself. It's kind of a shame because as a reader I did to Natalie what everyone in her life was doing to her. I seem to remember thinking it was cute that the babies had A, B, C, D, and E names--I think I remember that right. Also I think Natalie was trying to swing a romance amidst all the weirdness in her life and romances didn't interest me.

[Julie Decker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Natalie's dealing with her father's remarriage and then suddenly she has to deal with being a stepsister. To five kids. Who are quintuplets. She resents everything about this and longs for the days when her house was spacious and her life was normal.

I had trouble caring about Natalie for some reason, so I had trouble getting into the book. I really liked books about twins, so I was quite drawn to this idea, but since the protagonist mostly just found her step-siblings annoying and inconvenient, I didn't have much sympathy for her--maybe that would have been different if she'd had aspirations I related to, but I found myself not really rooting for her and couldn't connect.

[Narariel · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting young teen book dealing with sibling jealousy & other aspects of growing up, I think the story is interesting. The end is a bit too quick in my opinion, particularly regarding the emotional aspects, but overall the book portrays the characters well. The main character, a young teen, deals with the issues facing her in mostly realistic ways. Her emotions are expressed fairly well. Reading this as an adult, I found it an enjoyable story.

[Crystal Ayala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this one brings back memories. I was maybe 11 or 12 when I read this. I remember telling myself I would never have that many kids if any and here I am now a mom to 4. My oldest daughter is 10 so I'll be sure to get a copy of this for her soon.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was another book sale find of a book popular when I was a kid. It's funny, because while I didn't remember lots of details before I started reading, it all came back as I went. I still think it's a good look at teen thoughts and emotions, and I enjoyed reading it.

[Partridge Public]

Pevsner, Stella

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haha, seriously one of my favorite books growing up. I remember reading this when I was feeling sorry for myself because my parents were divorced.

[Nikki Boisture · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring! How did I love this so much as a youngster? If you want a remarkable book by the same author, read And You Give Me a Pain, Elaine.

[Amelia]

its a good book i rate it 4/5 stars