Review: Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters - Natalie Standiford

Where I got it: Library
Rating: 5 stars 
Cover Rating: 4 stars (Fitting and nice looking, but not necessarily a wow cover.)
Genre: Young Adult  
Publication Date: September 1, 2010
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Page Count:  313 p.
 
Almighty Lou is the grounding force in the Sullivan family. Almighty Lou has been offended by a member of her own family, and expects a written confession from the culprit by New Year's, otherwise the whole family is cut from the will. This story takes place as the Sullivan sisters three confessions, which they hope are good enough for their grandmother. 

I really liked how different the three sisters were, but also how you could tell they were from the same family. You had the older sister, Norrie who was torn between her first (and true) love and her obligation to her family name. The middle sister Jane who enjoyed being a misfit and airing all her family's dirty secrets on her blog; myevilfamily.com. Lastly there was Sassy, who thought she was invincible, completely impervious to harm but maybe she was just really lucky. This was a great story that followed the same timeline through each of the sisters confessions. It was interesting to have something vaguely mentioned in one story and then explained in detail in someone else's confession. I really loved Natalie's first book, How to Say Goodbye in Robot and this was a great sophomore novel that makes me hunger and crave for her next work. If you like books about confessions and secrets, family obligation and true love than make sure you check out this novel. I loved whose confession it turned out to be. I loved the girls' younger brother Takey and his fish Bubble who could do tricks. The sisters' older brothers were great and brotherly too and I loved their parents Ginger and Daddy-o. This was a fun and hilarious novel about family.

First Line:
"The Sullivan family's Christmas began in the traditional way that year."

Favorite Line:
"I love swimming next to the cemetery -- it helps remind me not to drown."