Say You are My Sister is set in rural
Georgia, U.S.A. during World War 2; this is an American narrative of family
strengths and lineage ties. It tells of
a family of female children who, despite becoming orphaned and falling on
devastatingly hard times, do everything in their power to keep their little
family group together.

The story is told
through the authentic voice of a southern white child on the brink of
adolescence. Its central focus is on
the determination and courage of 12-year old Ramona Louise to keep her family
together, even at the expense of keeping a secret that she believes might
destroy the family group were it to be revealed. In this quest there is little
help and support for the girls from the community as they try to make it on
their own without adult guidance and financial backing. Beneath the surface of the family narrative
are undercurrents of racial tension and prejudice in the parochial town in
which the girls live. This gives the
historical narrative an edge and a tension and an authenticity that is also
captured through the southern narrative voice:

“Everybody says
that here ain’t no worse thing in this world than the sound of dirt hitting the
top of a coffin. I think everybody’s
right. Unless it’s the sound of your own pa crying.”

When their mother dies in a
freak tornado the family unit faces its first real threat of being broken up.
The girls see their father’s resolve to keep the family unit together at all
costs, and definitely not to succumb to the pressures and advances of neighbour
Magnolia Hewitt to take over the upbringing of baby Keely Faye. After the accidental death of the girls’ father
as well, Magnolia Hewitt’s determination to adopt the baby is intensified, but
so too is the resolve of the two sisters never to let their family unit be
fractured. So these two courageous,
principled and strong young women fight against the odds (and secrets between
themselves) to defend deeply held family values.

This is a quietly triumphant
story. The novel’s strengths lie in the
flow of the narrative, the interesting characterisations, the convincing
narrative voice, the neat plot turns, as well as in the overall sense of
compassion and humanity and gentleness of the themes it explores. In this novel the idea that people can
change the world is not so much said as shown.

© 2001 Judith
Catton

Judith Catton is a
teacher and librarian with a longstanding interest in children’s literature.
After completing graduate study in Library and Information Science, and in
English in Ontario, Canada, she has worked as a children’s specialist in public
libraries in both Canada and New Zealand. Her professional interests span children’s
literature and learning, and information literacy. Her current professional
focus is full-time teaching in a New Zealand primary school.

Categories: Fiction