Say You Are My Sister

A strong narrative voice and an intense bond between 12-year-old Mony (Ramony Louise) Keddrington and her beautiful 17-year-old sister, Georgie, form the spine of this first novel set in WWII Georgia. ""She was my big sister who loved me fierce and proud, who tightened my braids when they drooped and beat up Charlie Jemissee once for laughing at my spelling test,"" says Mony of her older sister. The two together with their infant sister, Keely Faye, struggle to make ends meet when their mama dies, and their pa's fatal accident follows soon after. Through Pa's treasured family stories and a heated racial conflict in town, Brady lays the groundwork for some lingering secrets and the question of what defines a family, which lies at the heart of the novel. Despite Mony's frank, likable voice, the girls' constant peril and a compelling discussion of racial equality, the flimsy characterizations of the supporting cast weaken the underlying drama. The oppressive Southern small-town community so well drawn in the first chapters dwindles by novel's end. What readers will most remember is the love between the two sisters. Ages 10-up. (Sept.)