My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece

Contributors

By Annabel Pitcher

Formats and Prices

Price

$8.99

Price

$11.99 CAD

My sister Rose lives on the mantelpiece.
Well, some of her does.
A collarbone, two ribs, a bit of skull, and a little toe.

To ten-year-old Jamie, his family has fallen apart because of the loss of someone he barely remembers: his sister Rose, who died five years ago in a terrorist bombing. To his father, life is impossible to make sense of when he lives in a world that could so cruelly take away a ten-year-old girl. To Rose’s surviving fifteen year old twin, Jas, everyday she lives in Rose’s ever present shadow, forever feeling the loss like a limb, but unable to be seen for herself alone.

Told with warmth and humor, this powerful novel is a sophisticated take on one family’s struggle to make sense of the loss that’s torn them apart… and their discovery of what it means to stay together.




  • * "[A] striking debut. Realistic, gritty, and uplifting."
    Kirkus (starred review)
  • * "Straddles that fine line between funny and tragic... As a study of grief's collateral damage, it deals with the topic realistically without losing sight of hope."
    Booklist (starred review)
  • * "In this powerfully honest, quirkily humorous debut novel...Pitcher tackles grief, prejudice, religion, bullying, and familial instability."
    Publisher's Weekly (starred review)
  • * "Compelling and believable...by turns heartbreaking and hysterically funny... This is an important book that could be used in classes and book-discussion groups. Don't let it fall through the cracks."
    School Library Journal (starred review)
  • "It lives off the page. It has a warmth you can bask in; an honesty you can cut with a knife."
    The Guardian UK

On Sale
Aug 14, 2012
Page Count
224 pages
ISBN-13
9780316201858

Annabel Pitcher

About the Author

Annabel Pitcher is the award-winning author of My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece and Yours Truly. She graduated from Oxford University with a degree in English Literature. She lives in Yorkshire, England, with her husband, son, and dog.

Learn more about this author