The Sister Switch

Addie is the second person to receive the magic bracelet. In the first book, Best Wishes, Becca gets her wish and has now sent the bracelet on to the next person, Addie. Now Addie, like Becca, is sending the bracelet on and including the story of what happened when she received and wore the bracelet. The magic includes who is next to receive the package, and the mailing label mysteriously changes to the next recipient.

Addie is the middle child in a family of three girls. Her older sister, Sophie, is 12 and very smart. She is always studying and forgets to make friends and have fun. Addie feels that Sophie is always judging her and bossing her around. Camille is in pre-kindergarten and shares a room with Addie. To Addie, Camille is messy, in the way and, as the baby, always gets what she wants. Addie receives the package and puts on the bracelet before reading the cautionary note. She makes the wish without realizing the consequences. She wishes that she isn’t the middle sister. The girls switch places with Addie becoming the older sister, the oldest sister becomes the youngest, and the youngest becomes Addie. They are still themselves in the other sister’s body. They find that being someone else is difficult, and the results are not what they expect.

The story provides a humorous account of what happens when you get what you think you want. To add suspense, there is a woman who is trying to get the bracelet to use the power for herself. The chapters being numbered and titled helps the flow of the plot. The black and white drawings of some of the scenes in the book added interest and clarity. Local colour helped the reader picture what was going on throughout the story. The details bring the story alive for the reader. Great dialogue, with realistic vocabulary, was evident. The sentence length was varied with many short sentence and phrases for effect. The Sister Switch was a very readable novel and suitable for the intended audience.

I enjoyed the themes in this book. Friendship and family are important aspects to this second book in the “Best Wishes” series. Addie realizes that, until you become the other person, and in her case, her sister, you don’t really know what is happening in that other person’s world. I look forward to the next book where the magic bracelet is sent to Lucy who will have the opportunity to make a wish. The Sister Switch book would make a good school or classroom addition and would work well as a read-aloud selection.