The Secret Language of Sisters

by Luanne Rice Narrated by Brittany Pressley, Kate Rudd

Overview

New York Times bestselling adult author Luanne Rice makes her dazzling YA debut with this gorgeous, unputdownable story of love, hope, and redemption.

When Ruth Ann (Roo) McCabe responds to a text message while she's driving, her life as she knows it ends. The car flips, and Roo winds up in a hospital bed, paralyzed. Silent. Everyone thinks she's in a coma, but Roo has locked-in syndrome -- she can see and hear and understand everything around her, but no one knows it. She's trapped inside her own body, screaming to be heard.Mathilda (Tilly) is Roo's sister and best friend. She was the one who texted Roo and inadvertently caused the accident. Now, Tilly must grapple with her overwhelming guilt and her growing feelings for Roo's boyfriend, Newton -- the only other person who seems to get what Tilly is going through.But Tilly might be the only person who can solve the mystery of her sister's condition -- who can see through Roo's silence to the truth underneath. Somehow, through medicine or miracles, will both sisters find a way to heal?

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Praise for The Secret Language of Sisters:

"Riveting and heartbreaking... a glorious affirmation." — Lauren Myracle, bestselling author of Shine

"Luanne Rice brings her trademark grace and lyricism to a suspenseful story about sisters and life-changing chances." — Huntley Fitzpatrick, author of My Life Next Door

"A moving story, beautiful told, about art, hope, and all kinds of love. Welcome to the YA world, Luanne Rice!" — Natalie Standiford, author of How to Say Goodbye in Robot

"Raw and emotional. A novel you'll want to discuss, and one that will stick with you long after you've turned the last page." — Tamara Ireland Stone, bestselling author of Every Last Word

"Rice skillfully examines the way one mistake can shatter the lives of many." — Publishers Weekly

"Genuine and heartfelt. . . fans of Gayle Forman's If I Stay. . . will find another favorite in this." — School Library Journal.

"Rice, a bestselling adult author, employs alternating chapters in the sisters' voices with clarity and honesty in her YA debut." — Booklist

Praise for Internationally Bestselling Author Luanne Rice

"Luanne Rice has enticed millions of readers." — USA Today

"Rice has an elegant style, a sharp eye, and a real warmth." — San Francisco Chronicle

"Rice's trademarks are fine writing, a good eye for small detail, and an uncanny way of conveying the mysterious glue that holds families together." — Kirkus Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

2015-11-03
Nature, photography, sisterhood, and severe consequences for texting while driving. Sisters Roo, 16, and Tilly, 14, live right where the Connecticut River meets Long Island Sound. Between Roo's stunning photographs (of river, beaches, marshes, and people) and her off-the-charts academic test scores, she's a shoo-in for Yale—until one fateful day. Roo's late picking up Tilly; Tilly pesters her by text, demanding a response; Roo glances down to reply "5 mins away" and flips her car, ending up paralyzed and in a coma. The sisters alternate first-person narration. Via Roo's chapters, readers know long before her family and doctors that she's actually not in a coma—she has locked-in syndrome and can't move, but she's fully sentient and as sharp as ever. Themes are plentiful and include guilt and confession; recovery (Roo uses a brain-computer interface to communicate and eventually take photos with her one mobile eye); boyfriends and loyalty; and, of course, the warning about texting while driving. Textual insistences that the sisters are best friends with an unbreakable relationship and that Roo's the most "special, luminous girl"—both before and after paralysis—are unduly explicit, and Tilly's voice is sometimes uncharacteristically florid. White characters are white by default, while characters of color are specified, stereotyped, and mainly present to supply support and wisdom. Choppy and an issue book to the core, though certainly effective on the texting-and-driving message. (Fiction. 12-15)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170564828
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	02/23/2016
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	10 - 13 Years

Read an Excerpt

From The Secret Language of Sisters"I love you," Tilly said. "I think of you every minute. I can't stand seeing you like this, Roo. I'm a mess. I feel so guilty." She gulped on a big sob, and I saw the tears rolling down her cheeks. My eyes filled, too."I have something to tell you. Something awful."I didn't care what it was. I just concentrated with all my might on getting her look, really look, at me and see me."I did something," she said. "I am the reason you're here. I hate myself." Don't hate yourself, I wanted to say. Just figure this out! "Okay, I'm going to tell you something about the day of your accident. Two things, actually. One thing is good. Lucan, that's the dog, is fine. He has a broken leg, but it's healing well. I saw him. He limps, but he's going to be fine. Okay." A deep breath. "The rest isn't so great. I wish you could hear me. I wish you could just blink and let me know you know what I'm saying." I can't blink, but I know what you’re saying! I wanted to shout. The stress was back, stronger than before, I needed her to get this, I didn't have it in me to go on much longer. I can't move my eyelids at all. Can you ask me something else? Can you look into my eyes and see I'm here? "Can you please just," she began, and I must have been exasperated because all I could do was look up at the ceiling, a heaven-help-me moment. My eyeball flicked up and down. Tilly stopped mid-sentence, mouth dropping open. And then ... "Roo?" I'm here! "Oh, God," she said. "Did you just look up? Did you just move your left eyeball? If you did, and you hear me, do it again." I did it again. "You hear me?" My left eye flicked up then down. I had a very narrow field of vision: Tilly and the ceiling. "Roo, is this real?" I looked up. "You know who I am?" Duh, Tilly. I looked up. "You understand what I'm saying?" I looked up. She grabbed my other hand, she was holding both my hands now, and she did a happy, screaming dance, we were doing a jig, only I was in my hospital bed. Still, I was doing it in my mind, and it felt real.

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