Two sisters, Lexie and Pearl, are complete opposites. However, they have to get along when their grandfather comes to live with them. They soon find themselves sharing everything.

In urban New York City, a young 9 year old girl must learn how to behave and survive when she is asked to move into her older sisters room for a few months. The book covers many struggles that are apart of family dynamics, as well as with friendships. Could be a good read for talking about family life, or simply what the 21st century child experiences in their daily life. ( )

This review first appeared on my blog:

http://www.knittingandsundries.com/2012/01/ten-rules-for-living-with-my-sister-b...

Pearl Littlefield is nine years old and in 4th grade. Her best (and only) friend is Justine Lebarro, who's seven years old and in 1st grade (for the second time). Lexie is Pearl's older sister, thirteen years old and in 8th grade. Pearl wants be be as good at or better at something (anything) than Lexie. Pearl's mom is a writer of children's books who works from home and her father is a university professor of economics.

Add in a grouchy neighbor (Mrs. Mott), who hates dogs and kids, and Pearl has about all she can do to remember NOT to do "underwear visits" to Lexie's room (otherwise, a "No Pearl" sign goes up on Lexie's door), and find a way to keep out of Mrs. Mott's way.

Pearl loves lists, like this one:

Five Reasons Lexie Thinks She's So Great

She almost gets straight A's.
She has a boyfriend and his name is Dallas, which is not a plain name like Bob or Jim.
She has a best friend who is her own age, plus more friends, including the two Emmas.
She is allowed to go places without a grown-up. Of course, she has to stay in our neighborhood, but she can still to to the movies and to stores and over to her friends' apartments, where they put on nail polish.
She has her own cell phone and her own computer and her own KEY TO THE APARTMENT.

When Pearl's Daddy Bo (her grandfather) has a fall and breaks his shoulder, her parents decide that Daddy Bo has to live with them until an opening comes in a good assisted living facility. For Pearl and Lexie, this means that they will have to move in together, which makes Pearl happy and Lexie .. well, not so much :) Pearl makes up a new list, "Ten Rules for Living with my Sister", which she hopes will make it easier for them to get along. One of the rules (#3) reads: Try not to tease Lexie, sometimes this is hard because she says stupid things.

This is such a fun book; even though the protagonist is a girl, it would be a great book for a boy middle reader as well. Pearl is such a cool kid. From her unique perspective, she chronicles her Daddy Bo's slow descent into what seems to this adult reader to be Alzheimer's Disease, even ending up clear across town at Daddy Bo's old house which has been sold. Her relationship with her sister Lexie teeters between adulation and pestering (typical for siblings with this age difference - I have 3 girls 5 years apart myself). She is artistic, creative, and full of mischief, even while she tries her best to do the right thing.

This adult reader smiled and even laughed as she read, and I guarantee that this one will be a hit with anyone who loves a vivacious, witty, and, at times, bratty, protagonist.

QUOTES (from an ARC; may be different in final copy):
I stood in the hall and called, "Lexie! Oh, Lexie! How long is the silent treatment going to last?" I counted to five. "Lexie! Oh, Lexie! I said, how long is the silent treatment going to last?" I waited five more seconds. "Lexie! Oh, Lexie! How long is-"
Lexie flung her door open so fast the the NO PEARL sign almost blew off. "I DON'T KNOW! UNTIL I'M NOT MAD ANYMORE, OKAY?" she yelled.

....I really, really, really, really, really, really, really wanted to move into hers. I hardly ever even got to see inside her room. The door was usually closed and those signs were usually hanging. Here was my chance to live in her room. To observe my big sister up close, as if Lexie were an animal in the woods and I were a nature specialist with a fancy camera.

"Pearl Littlefield, whose shoes are those?" asked Mrs. Mott with her squinty eyes fastened on the sneakers. I don't know why Mrs. Mott always calls kids by both of their names.
"They're my grandfather's, Sheila Mott," I replied.
Mrs. Mott shrugged up her shoulders. I was sure she had more questions for me, but my rudeness had quieted her. As the elevator doors were opening, though, she said, "Just remember who you're talking to." (I could see that her lips were ready to add "Pearl Littlefield" to the end of her sentence, but she thought better of it.)

Writing: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Plot: 4 out of 5 stars
Characters: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Reading Immersion: 4 out 5 stars

BOOK RATING: 4.25 out of 5 stars ( )

I just love Ann Martin, and this book made me love her even more. She has written a fantastic story about sisters and family. Pearl is the younger, 4th grade sister to middle school age Lexie. Pearl tries hard (usually) but just can’t understand why Lexie acts the way she does. When the girls’ grandpa comes to live with them in their cozy apartment, the girls are forced to share a room. Pearl is thrilled with the chance to observed Lexie up close. Now, just maybe, she can figure out her big sister once and for all!

Older fans of Beezus and Ramona books will love this sweet, but realistic, look at the complicated relationship between big and little sisters. A perfect book for 3rd-6th grade girls. ( )

I decided to enter the Goodreads giveaway for the newest juvenile book by beloved author Ann M. Martin somewhat on a whim. I was pleasantly surprised to win although I also felt some trepidation at the prospect of writing a review on it. I’m not really one of those adults who read juvenile and YA books so I always feel a bit unsure rating and reviewing books for young readers as someone not in the intended audience for these books. However, Ann M. Martin holds a special place in my heart, partially for her iconic Babysitter Club series (even the cool kids read those in the 1990s when I grew up), but my first Martin love was Ten Kids, No Pets. In that book about a huge, quirky alphabetically named family, Martin’s characters seem so much more vivid than the somewhat formulaic pre-teens and teens of the Babysitters Club. I read the Babysitters Club because they were popular but Ten Kids, No Pets was a meatier reading experience for my young self; Martin delved into the imperfections and joy of being a kid in a family unit in a way that really resonated with me, even though I grew up in a Three Kids, Two Cats family. I found that Ten Rules for Living with My Sister managed to incorporate a lot of the charms I remember as a young reader of Martin’s novels.

Our heroine is Pearl, a young for her age girl who doesn’t quite fit in at school or with her older sister Lexie. Despite Pearl’s best intentions at interacting with her sister, she always manages to play the Ramona to Lexie’s Beezus. Pearl’s attempts to gain access to her sister’s alluring junior high world are given a boost when the girls are forced to temporarily share a bedroom in the family’s New York City apartment. The sisters’ grandfather, Daddy Bo, is no longer able to care for himself and moves in with the family while he awaits an opening at a senior living facility. The shared living situation turns out to help ease the girls’ relationship as both learn better how their sister acts and reacts to the other. Pearl’s new relationship with her older sister helps her blossom in the fourth grade while Lexie learns to think less of the almighty popular opinion at her middle school.

This book was charming and readable even as an adult. I also tried to keep in mind how I would feel if I read this book when I was a child myself. My grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s when I was 12(although she’d begun the descent before formal diagnosis) and to this day, watching my grandmother suffer that disease remains one of the most hellish experiences of my life. Papa Bo’s forgetfulness stroke a painful chord for me and I wonder how I would react to this book if I had read it when I was also a kid dealing with scary grownup things (even though I was somewhat older than Pearl). Martin dealt with the uncertainty of watching a beloved and capable adult struggle with losing their independence in a somewhat tame and digestible way for a young reader, proving that Martin still has the ability to bring to life the most ordinary of family situations and make it compelling and readable. ( )