In The Sisters Club: Rule of Three, the girls have to overcome rivalry as the two oldest girls try out for the same part in the school play. With the same clear, realistic writing style that made Judy Moody relatable, McDonald gives the three sisters believable voices. The story meanders between all three sisters, with pencil-scribbled notes, scripts, quizzes and illustrations adding to their individual charms. The sisters squabble and make some poor choices, but the ending resolves the drama with a strong message of family and forgiveness.
The strong literary references and the varying points of view make this title beneficial for language arts classrooms also.
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Genre: Realistic Fiction. Age: Grades 4-8. Pages: 240.
Themes: Family, Friendship, Difficult Decisions
Publisher: Candlewick. Date: August 2009.
ISBN-10: 0763641537
Thanks to The Picnic Basket for my advanced copy.
Buy The Sisters Club: Rule of Three Here
The RIF site has a fantastic interview with author Megan McDonald and Reading Rockets has a great video interview too.
Teachers can sign up for Megan McDonald's Totally Rare Teachers' Club: Here.
Author Megan McDonald is well known to many elementary readers as the author of the wildly popular Judy Moody books. She's worked as a children's librarian and in a children's bookstore where she once caught a burglar trying to steal books! You can read a lot more fun facts about the author on her website.
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© 2007-2009 Cheryl Vanatti for www.ReadingRumpus.com
Review also posted National Reading Examiner.