Sisters in Sanity: A YA Novel of Friendship, Survival, and Fighting Institutional Abuse Paperback – April 21, 2009

See more of my reviews on my blog Thoughts At One In The Morning.Many readers are probably more familiar with Gayle's "If I Stay" (especially with the sequel recently released). It was due to knowing of them that I stumbled across this when filling up a cart on Amazon. The premise is about a girl being sent away to a center for rebellious teens by her father.That girl is Brit Hemphill, 16 years old with magenta and black hair and tattoos. She's in a band (Clod) with friends Denise, Erik, and Jed, the guy she's in love with. The book opens with her trip to Red Rock Academy, disguised as a family trip to the Grand Canyon by her dad. In the first few weeks she has an attitude, but Virginia (or V, as she prefers to be called) helps her get started off right. She makes three other friends, Bebe, Martha, and Cassie, and the five of them together keep each other sane.The rules at Red Rock are very strict. You're given "levels" numbered 1-6, one being the lowest and six being highest. There's hardly any contact with people outside, and when you can it's limited to family only. They will withhold things from you unless you do what you're told to do. You get level upgrades for telling them what they want to hear. Basically, the place isn't a legitimate institution, it's just taking money from overly concerned parents. Of course, the parents don't realize this, the truth is always hidden when there are visitors, not to mention they're warned to not listen to the complaints of their child (since they're child is out of control and not to be trusted).While it seems to be difficult to abide by the rules, there are ways around them, like to write and receive letters from non-family. There's also a way to sneak out briefly at night. As the months go by, the girls grow closer. Brit is even able to keep in contact with Jed and her band.Then somebody gets caught breaking a rule and dynamics change. The girls attempt to stay right but it gets harder. When one of them ends up in the hospital thanks to the negligence of Red Rock, Brit reaches a breaking point. At that moment she makes it her resolve to shut Red Rock down.I will not say any more as to what happens in the end. You will not be disappointed as you take on Brit's journey.My Rating:Very Good: Stay up late

I got this after the BookBub ad ran and went it with great expectations. It didn’t necessarily fail but it was different, very different, than her other pieces and other books I read. The note in the back of the book about Forman’s time at Seventeen made me kind of understand. It was interesting to read about places like Red Rock and know that girls actually are sent to places like that. A definite eye opener to stereotypes and treatment of others.

I like Gayle Forman but this is not her best work. After finishing the book, I could barely remember the characters or the plot a week later. The sign of a truly great book is one that stays with you for months, years after you have read it. This one did not.Her other books are MUCH better. I recommend saving your money on this and putting towards her other books.

I felt like I was actually in the story, but in Brit's point of view. I felt her pain and anger about her dad's decision to send her, and how the staff at Red Rock treated her. She made new friends there, learned not to give up, and how to stay strong and fight for what you believe in especially with support from all the important people in life.

The writer is talented, the story moves along but there's something missing. It's like the author wrote it blindfolded so as not to scare herself. Because this is written for younger readers, possibly just preteen but it's missing that extra punch to make the reader feel this is real. I'd say skip it but if you are one of those readers that don't like to get too scared then this is the book for you.

I love her writing, I loved this story. HOWEVER the end was so abrupt! It could have gone a couple chapters longer, it seemed like she was rushing to hit a deadline. I would definitely read again and I love her writing, just would like to see her write things a bit more thoroughly.

This book does have a strong friendship element which I always like to see. Outside of that I didn't really care for the book. It was a very light, shallow read, and I felt that you could read the first two thirds of the book from the synopsis of the book. The romance was cute but not overpowering. Not one of my better reads but that might in part be personal taste.

This was a great book should be required reading for middle and high school kids, I'm a retired teacher and loved it

I could never say what it might be like in one of those bootcamps for bad teens, I've never been to onebut after reading this book, I feel the writing was such that I KNOW what it WOULD be like. Its very rarethat reading a book can almost make you feel like you have lived that experience yourself but Ms formanswriting did that for me. I had already read If I Stay and although this book didn't effect me the same wayit really did leave me thinking about the way young people are judged on their behaviour and how for Brit,doing a few things such as getting a tattoo and listening to a certain sort of music has her pegged astroublesome and rebelious by her Stepmother. Who convinces Brit's father that she needs to go to Red Rock.Red Rock is quite possibly the worst place to send a teen in trouble. The councellors really don't care orhave the skills needed to help anybody. And Brit in my opinion should never have been sent there. I lovedhow she never wavered in that she believed she had done nothing bad enough to deserve where she ended up.I also loved the friendship and solidarity that grew between her ans some of the other girls at Red Rock.At first I thought that one girl in particular would turn out to be the bitch who would try to take Brit downso I was pleasantly surprised when they formed a group who promised to stick together and hep each otherthrough this awful experience.Ultimately the ending was great. I loved them standing up against the system, I loved them revealing exactlywhat was going down at Red Rock and I loved how this book shows that young people should be listened to,they should be believed and they should be accepted for who they are, even if it doesn't fit into the worldsideal of who they want young people to be.This book seals gayle Forman as one of my all time favourite authors, unfortunately I have read everythingshe has written and will have to wait patiently for her next offering. I just hope I don't have to wait too long!!

I honestly CAN'T believe how amazing this book was.Brit is a truly amazing character and her personality most amusing. It's sad how badly she is misunderstood. Brit, mixed with the other characters who I also hugely liked, was a brilliant combination. The characters were such varied people I found their interactions towards each other to be very interesting and complexed, they all had such different personalities that it made the book original and the way they could put their differences aside and work together made the book very moving. The characters all have a beautiful relationship with each other and I found myself understanding their thoughts and feelings thoroughly and sympathising with all of them.The actual plot is ingenious and the pacing of the story was fantastic, every word seemed purposeful and the slow progression of finding out who Brit really is made it on of those books you can't put down. Flashbacks ensured that the context was thoroughly understood. The ending was not at all predictable and somehow I found myself shocked by everything I read, unsure what would happen next.The mixed genre's in this book ensure a good all rounded book able to meet all expectations whether it's romance or thriller you're after; this book has it all.I would recommend for 13+, although it may be a bit of a hard read for someone that age and some concepts misunderstood I truly feel that this book could be for any age.Overall I could not recommend this book highly enough, it has everything you could ever want in a book and I literally couldn't put it down, everything about it is so original and I would advise taking advantage of the 'Look inside' feature to get a taste of what the book is about. Just buy it! Seriously, it's amazing.

A great book, fully recommend. Pleased I was able to get hold of a copy although out of print. Thank you.

I found this book an easy read, and flowed well, young girl misunderstood. It arrived quickly and packaged well, in great condition. Very pleased customer.

Service was good.