Missing Sisters audiobook

This is a very special little gem of a book. I thought I knew Gregory Maguire, the man who made me root for the Wicked Witch of the West and understand the stepsisters some called ugly. But until now I have never read his children's/YA fiction, and "Missing Sisters" is something unique. Maguire's voice here reminds you of his adult novels, but there are passages here you feel could be written by a completely different author. The directness Maguire gives here, with his characters of orphans and the nuns who take care of them, is completely nuanced and illustrates different stages of adolescence beautifully. There is much to be learned from this story, for adults and children, I would imagine. About growing up and going on and dealing, about family, about friendships. Read this one!

This was a lovely little book, almost a fantasy, really, because in my experience of Catholic adoption in the 1960's, there wasn't nearly as much kindness involved for any of the parties. The adoptive parents involved were extraordinarily thoughtful and kind, the nuns were unusually sympathetic and understanding, and there were no really bad guys, except perhaps for a predictably unkind competitive fellow orphan and adults and children who were not as inclusive of a child of disabilities as we'd hope someone would be today. I enjoyed the vivid local details of upstate New York, and I liked both of the plucky main characters.As a person whose life was very much shaped by my parent's less than happy experience with Catholic adoptions in the 1960's, the fervent desire for connection between these biological sisters was deeply felt and emotionally resonant, and I appreciated the somewhat escapist benign view of their experience.

Sweet and simple story, but I enjoyed it. Very different from the only other Gregory Maguire book that I have read before, Wicked!

It's sweet.And I love that it's almost casually Catholic.Extremely short though.

I loved the simple truths!

innately we all want to belong to a family but what happens if you are not a part of your biological family. Sounds terrifying but sometimes life can make you a part of another type of family just as wonderful. Well done.

Genre: Contemporary Fiction (bibliotherapy)Grades: 5-6 This book is about a girl names Alice who is in a Catholic orphanage. She has speech and hearing problems, and only one of the nuns can really understand her. At the beginning of the book, there is a fire and her favorite nun is severely burned. The nun is moved into a nursing home, and Alice vows that until she sees her she will not go with a family to be adopted. All the children are sent to camp over the summer far a week. At camp Alice finds out she has an identical twin sister. All the other kids at camp keep calling her he wrong name and she discovers she has a sister named Miami. Her sister and she were separated at birth, and her sister was adopted by a loving family with four other children. She gets the address of the family and finders her long lost sister. Miami and her adopter brother, Garth, do everything they can to try and get their parents to also adopt Alice. However their mother is pregnant and they don’t think they can support a family of six. Alice and Miami meet many different times at many different places, and try to figure out a way for Activities:This would be great to do a character collage with, because there are so many different characters and they all react differently to each other. Students at this age need to be able to think of different emotions and pinpoint them in stories. This book could be used for a literature circle book, because it would be good to use for discussion. The students should also be given different roles of the literature circle.

This is a short story about two young “orphans”, Miami and Alice, one has been adopted and one is living at a Catholic orphanage. Indirectly they discover their existence. It is just a simple story with no real resolve or conclusion at the end. It leaves the reader wondering why Maguire ended the book abruptly or if he wanted the reader to come to their own conclusions. At a deeper level one could argue whether “nurture vs. nature” determines ones personality and character more. It is apparent the contrary environment each has been raised in has affected their personalities. Within their contrary characters/attitudes there is a strong argument that the characters are a particular way due to their environment and not so much genetics. It is a simple read, yet somewhat entertaining.

Read this without looking at other reviews. Shocked at the low ratings. I was hooked and went through it pretty rapidly. I wonder what others were expecting on this one....it is key to know this is for YA. That might be issue. Personally, I have an interest in the nature/nurture argument. It was also gripping for me to have the Upstate NY references-my local area.Two days have passed and I am still thinking about the nuns and the twins.

I've enjoyed Maguire's adult novels, so thought I'd give this one a try. Well written and one I will recommend to some of the younger readers I know. Twin sisters separated at birth discover each other at a summer camp when they are 12. (Think "The Parent Trap" without all of the corny humor). One sister has been raised in an orphanage by nuns and the other has been adopted twice. The storyline is not new, but the take on it is.

It's an interesting read. There are strong references to the 1960s, which is when the book takes place. The book didn't end as I suspected it would, which makes it intriguing. The characters felt real. There are scenes where the descriptions are very poetic. Excellent symmetry between the opening and closing scene.

This book was an interesting mix between "Memory Keeper's Daughter" and "Parent Trap". I really liked many parts of this book, especially the bluntness of reality and how the situations weren't sugar-coated. If I ever get to meet Maguire (and as a graduate/former head of my current graduate program I hope I do) I certainly have some pressing questions for him.

This book caught me by surprise. I was charmed by it! I had read a bunch of Gregory Maguire, and was thrown by the stories that weren't Oz/fairy tale related. This book, however, stood just fine on its own, with no fairy tale needed.The story of an orphan in upstate NY (Albany/Troy) it also was "close to home" for me, which doesn't hurt!

Although I had to start it twice and had to give it a bit more time, in the end I really enjoyed this book. It's a little unsatisfactory at the end as I feel it leaves you hanging a bit, but overall the story pulled me in and I wanted to keep listening. (After struggling to get through the first few chapters.)