My Sister's Keeper

by Beverly Butler

In the north woods of Wisconsin following a forest fire that destroys their town in 1871, 17-year-old Mary James forms a new respect for her older sister.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens, Fiction

220 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1980

About the author

Also known as
Beverly K. Olsen
Was married to Theodore Victor Olsen

Beverly was a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and a long time resident of Rhinelander. Beverly had planned to be an artist, but an impending blindness impelled her to learn typing in order to rejoin her high school class. For practice, she began typing remembered stories which led to her inventing stories.
In 1954, she graduated cum laude from Mount Mary College in Milwaukee where she wrote her first young novel, Song of the Voyager which later won Dodd Mead's
Seventeenth Summer Literary Competition. Beverly earned her M.A. Degree from Marquette University in 1961 and she returned to Mount Mary in 1962 to teach writing there until 1974. Beverly moved to Sun Prairie before marrying fellow Wisconsin author, Theodore Victor (T.V.) Olsen, and moving to Rhinelander in 1976. T V Olsen died in 1993 and she continued to live
in Rhinelander till her death in 2007 at the age of 75. She is survived by her niece and nephews. Her novel "Light a Single Candle" was based on her own experiences with blindness. The sequel was "Gift of Gold". She used her other senses and her brilliant imagination to create her vivid stories which are still enjoyed by her loyal readers today.

Sources
http://www.memorialsolutions.com/site...
http://underalilacbush.blogspot.in/20...
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid...

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Briefly obsessed with this book as a kid, and can still remember tons of details! Mary is horrible: spoiled, and jealous of her sister who she constantly criticizes in her head. I remember being made at the brother-in-law, who his totally flirting with Mary in front of his wife! What a jerk! The contrast between life before and after the fire was what really drew me in, especially the clothes.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorites from my young adult years. This story is amazing, especially if you want to experience how it might have felt dealing with a fire in the old days.
The main character is spoiled and selfish, but when a fire overtakes their family and town, she is forced to confront her issues and what is really important in life. Totally worth the read!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book way back, but I loved it. Edge of my seat reading with the main character having to survive the big fire of Wisconsin by immersing in the river, ducking under and coming up to gap for air before going under again. I will never forget this scene from the book.

[QNPoohBear · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mary James was forced to make a visit to her older sister Clara to help care for the children and assist Clara when her new baby comes. Mary doesn't get along with her fussy older sister and thinks her sister was lucky to catch a man like Ellery. Where Clara is tough and tart, Ellery is kind and fun. Mary's one consolation is that there is at least a new town of men to admire her beauty. One terrible night a fire rages through Peshtigo and Mary and her family are forced to run for their lives. Entrusted with the care of two-year-old Ida, Mary is forced to make difficult decisions that will mean either life or death. A local farmer Sigvard, is willing to help if Mary will let him.

This book does not shy away from the tough stuff. It's obvious the author did a ton of research on the Peshtigo fire and included all the gory details. The book also deals with the aftermath of the fire and it's not pretty. This book is not a fairy tale and there's a bit of an ambiguous plot thread at the end. There's a hint of a romance but not much. Most of the book is focused on the sisters' relationship and the fire. Mary is an unlikeable character at first. She's vain and spoiled but for some reason I sympathized with her. Clara is also unlikeable but yet also sympathetic. She has 3 young children, lives miles away from her family and her husband doesn't always respect her wishes. The relationship between Mary and Clara felt very realistic as did the chapters set during the fire.

Not many people have heard of this fire because it happened the same night as the great Chicago fire. I read a bit about the fire in One Came Home and saw the town featured on the National Geographic Channel show "Diggers." The history in the story wasn't all that interesting except for the fire but if you don't know anything about the fire, you will learn a lot. A good read for young adults and adults but not for younger children or sensitive readers.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a big favorite of mine when I was growing up. Being from Wisconsin, it had some local interest to me. In fact, several years ago, during a vacation to the upper peninsula of Michigan, we passed by Peshtigo and instead of bypassing the city on the highway, I made my husband drive through the center of town, and I saw the river, and the historical marker and imagined Mary and her family fleeing from the flames. On a whim recently, I reread a bunch of my favorite books from childhood, and this was one of the first ones I thought of. I still enjoyed the book very much, although I realized with the wisdom of the years what a vain, self centered person Mary really is, but she certainly gains humility by the end of the story. Butler does a great job of conveying the horrible tragedy of the fire, without sugarcoating it for kids.

[Linda Quarne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I go in streaks and lately have been reading about the Peshtigo fire. This story, written by a Wisconsin native is a fictional account of the fire but all the details are factual. A good older book about a tough subject. I actually read this the first time when I was 10 or 11 but as I said, I had just finished reading several books about the fire and faintly remembered reading this and decided to check it out again.

[Kendall · Rating 2 out of 5]

while the benefactor portion is missing (broken for you), the perfect dialogue and composure of a Law and Order episode is rampant. The character by chapter approach was interesting but not convincing. most of the plot was simple at best, completely predictable BUT the climax was not what i expected so i will give the book two stars.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is awful! The author attempts to write in four different voices. She fails miserably. I did the unthinkable after forcing myself to finish this book. I threw it out. I will never read another book by this author.

[Phyllis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. It was very well written. I was interested in learning about Down Syndrome.
The plot of the book irritated me. It just wasn't believable to me, that a man could successfully take a newborn out of his wife's life unbeknownst to her.

[Tina Baird · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember reading this book as a child late into the evening to finish. Did it again reading as an adult. Found myself gasping for air as
The characters were running into the river , away from the fire.

[Bonnie]

Loved this book. It really makes you think about what you would do in that situation.

[Heidi Peppers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read this since I was I child, but I thought it was great then.

[Stephanie Bloodworth]

i am not quite done with it yet

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ding Dong.