Sisters

Nonfiction | Graphic Memoir | Middle Grade | Published in 2014

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Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Pages 1-59

Pages 60-98

Pages 99-151

Pages 152-197

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Themes

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Important Quotes

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Themes

Connecting with People and Overcoming Differences

During her childhood and adolescence, Raina struggles to connect with her family. There are two major personality types in the family: Raina, Dad, and Will are more easygoing and lenient, and Mom and Amara are often obstinate, irritable, and angry. The resulting conflicts are endless, as Amara and Raina are always arguing with one another about meaningless things. They may have learned this behavior from their parents, who struggle to agree on issues like parenting styles or the urgency of finding work. After Christmas morning, when Raina gets her new Walkman, she is seen on a splash page sitting peacefully and drawing while her family screams around her. Like Raina, Dad tunes the chaos out by watching baseball.

Raina feels like an outcast in her own family, and this is only amplified at the family reunion. Her cousins barely remember her and have little interest in connecting with her, and Raina feels disappointed after looking forward to the event. She attempts to find a sympathetic ear in Amara when she finds her sitting outside alone, but Amara reacts with anger and hostility, accusing Raina of being self-serving. Amara is rarely wrong about her accusations, but Raina is not quite ready to admit this about herself yet. Ultimately, it is Raina’s decision to feel left out, because whenever Amara is honest with Raina, she shuts down and isolates herself. Raina’s major source of solitude and isolation from her family is her headphones, and she almost always has them on. This prevents her from connecting with her family. For a long time, Raina blames them, feeling that their personalities were the reason for their lack of understanding. It is not until Raina finally decides to listen to her sister that her perspective begins to change. On the way home from the reunion, Raina panics when her Walkman dies, as if she can’t live without it. Amara points out Raina’s issue when she says, “Would I be the end of the world for you to not have your Walkman on for a few hours?!” (161). It is clear that Amara feels shut out by Raina, and frustrated with their poor connection, and this moment explains much of Amara’s aggression throughout the road trip. When Mom finally comes back with the tow truck, Raina starts to realize that she can connect with her family again if she only allows herself to be present.

Managing Fears and Adjusting to the Unexpected

Managing fears and adjusting to the unexpected is a theme that weaves throughout the story, the road trip, and Raina’s memories. Many of her most important memories and present events center around an unexpected change that altered her life or her perception of the world. These include when Amara came home and showed her defiant personality, when Will was born, when Raina stepped on a snake, the storm and the van breaking down, and many more. Raina’s major fears stem from her difficulties in adjusting to change, including her fear of snakes, her fear of not fitting in, and her fear of her parents’ divorce.

Many mishaps along the road trip test the family’s patience and their ability to adjust, and these mishaps are a microcosmic reflection of the family’s larger sources of stress, including their financial difficulties and the constant needs of the younger children. The storm arrives just as Amara and Raina are getting into a heated argument, and Mom foreshadows further trouble ahead when she says, “Looks like we’re heading into a bit of weather” (43). When Raina has to pee on the side of the highway, Amara mocks her from afar, and this behavior is indicative of a deeper conflict between the girls. On the way home, the van breaks down just as Mom assures the girls that everything will be alright—an ironic moment. The most significant example of the parallels between the road trip and the family’s lives is the absence of Dad on the trip. Both Amara and Will sense that something is wrong, but Raina is too tuned out to fully notice. Along the trip, Mom is irritable and tense, and this is largely because of the issues she’s having with Dad. At the family reunion, neither Raina nor Amara feels like they belong there, but they have different reactions to the same feeling. Raina wants sympathy, and Amara wants to be alone. The resulting conflict showcases the lack of understanding and overall disconnect between Raina and her sister.

Raina’s fear of snakes began when she was young and stepped on a dead snake in the woods. The experience terrified and shocked her, and her parents were of little help. When Raina looks back on the moment, she experiences the same feelings of humiliation and anger, and her identical facial expressions in the before and after scenes indicate this. Waking up to the sight of several dead animals after the storm only reminds Raina of this experience, and when she tells Amara about it, Amara laughs at her. Raina’s love for her sister is what finally allows her to start overcoming her fear, as she is able to ride all the way back to California knowing that Mango is sitting in the seat behind her, alive and well. Raina also learns that it is in her power to improve her relationship with her sister—all she needs to do is take her headphones off and listen.

Growing Up and Navigating Changes

Growing up and navigating the changes that go along with it is a common source of inner conflict, and Raina is no exception. She is 14 years old at the time of the road trip, and she is caught between the vulnerability and innocence of her childhood and her inevitable ascent into adulthood. Raina is in many ways still a kid, and this is evident in her lack of perceptiveness about her family’s issues and sister’s true feelings toward her, as well as in smaller actions such as her constant use of headphones and need to be better than her younger sister. When Raina interacts with Amara, Raina often acts younger than her years, reverting to the behavior of someone her sister’s age. In the opening scene, she and Amara argue over some nameless problem, and both are shown as equally aggressive. Raina even holds a fork in her hand, and later screams at her sister. Although Amara is in many ways characteristic of her age, she also shows wisdom that Raina does not, such as when she points out that Raina tends to miss what’s around her. Raina also has a fear of snakes that she refuses to deal with or compromise on at all until the story’s conclusion when she finally starts to make room for her sister’s needs. At the family reunion, Raina feels as if she doesn’t fit in with anyone and attempts to conform by putting on some of Lindsay’s makeup. Her lack of experience is evident when she emerges with more of a performer’s style of makeup compared to the subtle lipstick and mascara that Lindsay wears. When Lindsay sees Raina with her stuffed bear, she laughs at her, and Raina pretends not to want it. Later that night, Raina holds her bear tightly as she thinks about how alone she feels.

Part of growing up includes adjusting to major changes, and this is something that Raina struggles with. When her sister is born, Amara is not what Raina expected, and this soon turns to disappointment and Raina’s decision to shut Amara out completely. When Will is born, Raina wishes that he never existed and feels unable to cope with all of the changes and accompanying stress. As Raina gets older, her parents’ relationship also changes, and Raina fails to notice it for several years. When she finally does realize that something is wrong, she starts to fear the worst: “Amara? You don’t think Mom and Dad are going to split up… do you?” (181-82). She intuitively looks to her younger sister for wisdom on adult matters, and ironically, Amara is able to offer it. This is not the only way that Amara helps Raina mature; the very existence of Amara, and her stubbornly particular personality, causes Raina to reflect and come to a new level of understanding about herself and her sister.