Missing Sisters [Hardcover]

Gregory Maguire (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1994 | Age Level: 10 and up

Twelve-year-old Alice, an orphan who has never been adopted because of her physical handicap and difficult personality, is shocked to discover she has an identical twin sister living nearby.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Affectionate humor and a particularly well-defined setting lend distinction to this touching novel set in 1968. Alice, a 12-year-old beset by hearing and speech impediments, lives in an orphanage run by nuns in upstate New York. After Sister Vincent de Paul, Alice's closest friend and supporter, is severely injured in a fire, no one explains to Alice that the sister has been sent for a long stay in a nursing home. Alice, worrying that Sister Vincent has died, makes a pact with God: until she knows that Sister Vincent will recover, she won't even consider an offer of adoption that has been extended to her--her first. A girl Alice despises gets her place, but Alice has a drama of her own, inadvertently learning that she may have a twin sister. With a mixture of cunning and courage, Alice finds her. Maguire, who spent some of his childhood in a Catholic children's home, avoids pat and obvious resolutions, and he conveys Alice's faith lightly but substantively. Characterizations of the Catholic environment are sharp and funny. Some poignant, genuinely suspenseful moments express, among other truths, the value of individuality. Ages 10-14.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-7-A portrait of a 12-year-old handicapped girl, raised by a stern group of nuns, emerges from this ragged novel. Alice has spent her life in an orphanage, steeped in rigid religiousness and-because of her hearing and speech impediments-in confusion. When the one nun who is sensitive to Alice tragically vanishes from her life, the girl's isolation is compounded by grief. Then, through a fluke of mistaken identity, she discovers that she has an identical twin sister who does not suffer from disabilities and who has a loving, supportive adoptive family. As Alice struggles to find her place, the story struggles to deal with attitudes that seem dated and off-balance without really giving a sense of upstate New York in the 1960s. Supporting characters and issues are left dangling, although Alice, finally, is not; her sudden adoption in the last few pages is abrupt and unsettling. An imperfect book, but an unusual look at Catholic family values and at a troubled child.
Susan Oliver, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 152 pages
• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry (May 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689505906
• ISBN-13: 978-0689505904
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,262,073 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gregory Maguire received his Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Tufts University, and his B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany. He was a professor and co-director at the Simmons College Center for the Study of Children's Literature from 1979-1985. In 1987 he co-founded Children's Literature New England. He still serves as co-director of CLNE, although that organization has announced its intention to close after its 2006 institute.
The bestselling author of Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Lost, Mirror Mirror, and the Wicked Years, a series that includes Wicked, Son of a Witch, and A Lion Among Men. Wicked, now a beloved classic, is the basis for the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical of the same name. Maguire has lectured on art, literature, and culture both at home and abroad.
He has three adopted children and is married to painter Andy Newman. He lives with his family near Boston, Massachusetts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Missing Sisters, April 15, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Missing Sisters (Library Binding)

MIssing Sisters is set in America in 1968. The main character is Alice Colossus. Alice is an orphan in the Sacred Heart Home for Girls. Alice has no known siblings or parents until one day at summer camp she was mistaken for a girl by the name of Miami Shaw. Alice wants to know if this girl holds the key to finding her real parents. Read the book to find out.

We really enjoyed the book. The storyline is interesting. It's unputdownable yet it stays realistic.

I'd recommend this book to anyone aged 11 to 13 because some of the language is quite difficult and anyone younger probably wouldn't understand it.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars TrulyCool, April 15, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Missing Sisters (Library Binding)

Missing Sisters is about Alice Colossus, an orphan who lives in the sacret heart home for girls. When she goes to camp one year people mistake her for a girl called Miami. She finds out she has a twin. This book is brilliant, every page makes you want to read more. Though it has a realistic but weak ending. I loved this book but give it 9 out of 10

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet Journey, October 23, 2009

By 

Jeanne M. Halsey "Halseywrite" (Pacific Northwest, U.S. of A.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Missing Sisters (Paperback)

My introduction to Maguire was through "Wicked"; only later did I realize he began his career as a writer of children's literature. Finding "Missing Sisters" was a revelation: here is a writer who understands how children think, feel, wonder about life, live in the moment, and are so full of potential. This sweet story of a handicapped orphan finding her family -- and herself -- was charming for me as an adult and I expect would be captivating and honest for a child. Two moments stand out: the tender scene where the young girl is praying (and so humorously explains her understanding of the personalities of Jesus and Mary); and the singing contest (where the confusion over her identity and her twin's begins). When my grandchildren are old enough, I will definitely share my copy of this book with them.