Customer Reviews

The Year My Sister Got Lucky

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Katya, a.k.a. Katie, and her sister Michaela Wilder are sisters and best friends that were born and raised in New York city. They study ballet and their best friends do the same. Katie is 14 and going to be a freshman in high school, Michaela is 17 and going to be a senior. Michaela is the great ballerina and the envy of her dancemates while Katie has to try very hard to be good at ballet.

Their mother is a college professor and their father is a writer. The parents decide to move the family to Fir Lake, New York for the mom to teach there. While Michaela takes the move in stride and embraces it, Katie fights it tooth and nail. She doesn't understand what Michaela sees in this small town and blames the move on the distance that grows in their relationship. As the story moves on, we find out why Michaela was so happy for the move from the big city to a small town and the effects of her secrecy on Katie.

There's too much that I liked about this book to put in a review. Katie's sarcasm is perfect and although only 14 her observations are those that both young and old can appreciate. This is a coming of age story that includes a younger sibling coming to realize she may just want to be something other than just like her sister. One of my favorite parts of the book is when Katie and Michaela visit their New York ballet instructor and friends over the holiday. They see the startling differences after only four months between themselves and their friends since the move. I thought this was a key part to have in the book as Katie comes to realize that Fir Lake may not be so bad after all. The only thing that didn't really connect the storyline for me was the Emmaline character but I guess she was necessary for Katie to realize a talent other than ballet.

Overall, this is a great read from Aimee Friedman that I highly recommend.

Katie and her perfect sister, Michaela, have a brand new life in the country.

In their previous life, they've lived in New York City and danced ballet under the watchful eye of a legendary ballerina. But things have changed, and now Katie is lost on her own while her sister transforms into the queen bee of the social scene. Soon Michaela's dating the hottest guy in school and her best friends don't include Katie.

The two of them always shared secrets, but now Michaela barely talks to her about real life. Katie feels stung by her sister's betrayal.

Can sisters really be best friends?

Aimee Friedman dissects the sister relationship in her new book THE YEAR MY SISTER GOT LUCKY. The relationship between Katie and Michaela will captivate readers and the divergence from her usual characters will not be disappointing.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel

Katya Wilder, better known as Katie, is tired of being the last one in her family to know everything. So when she finally finds out that she has to move from New York City to some little town neat Canada called Fir Lake, it's natural that she freaks out. After all, she has to leave behind the only place she's ever called home, the prestigious Anna Pavlova dancing school, and all her dancing friends.

Katie refuses to accept the new town that she lives in and all the people who live there. Her sister Michaela, by contrast, seems to fit right in. She's accepted at the popular table, and with all her new friends, it seems as if she doesn't have time for Katie anymore. But what hurts Katie most of all is that her sister used to be so close to her, and now Michaela doesn't tell her anything.

It's this hurt that influences Katie to grow apart from her sister. But some good things do result from this: Katie finds a friend in Autumn, a girl who likes both camping and dancing. Katie also finds out that the dancing school in Fir Lake is nothing in comparison with Anna Pavlova's, and that she likes yoga. The story follows Katie as she struggles to make her way through her first year in high school, along with her boy, friendship, and sisterly problems.

The Year My Sister Got Lucky was an incredibly well-written book about sisterhood. Even though I do not have the same sisterly bond with my sister as Katie has with Michaela, it was very easy to understand where Katie was coming from. All she really wanted when moving to the new town was for things to be normal and for her sister to be the same. But her sister didn't have the same idea, and because Michaela kept this secret from Katie, things started to get difficult between them. Katie's struggles are very realistic, and many times, I felt like I was inside her head and because we are so similar. Everything made sense in this book, and I like that because I didn't have to figure everything out for myself.

I highly recommend The Year My Sister Got Lucky to all girls. In my opinion, it is Aimee Friedman's best novel yet. I look forward to more novels of this depth and style from her.

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This books was very catchy it got my attention immediately and I enjoy the book between two sister. And how they used to bond until they move out of the city and how her sister change. I felt bad for Katie trying to get used to the new place and making new friends. I felt like this story is something every sister goes though. I recommend this book it about growing up and realizing that everything can't stay the same and it's about accepting good new things in life.

I read this as a highschooler...so I was in the intended audience range when I started and finished this novel. I was so excited when I read the reviews for this book because it was about ballet and city girls becoming country girls. The story is written by a ex-ballet dancer so that also adds more to it.

The first part is a bit slow, but the pace picks up once the sisters get to their new home. I enjoyed this book in part, but I can't say I enjoyed it in full and I would never read it again or suggest it(becasue there are better reads out there).

I liked the descriptions of ballet(they were one of the best and most fleeting parts of the book), and the country. It's funny and sad how the descriptions and scenary outshine the plot and characters!

I also liked how the girls were adjusting or trying to adjust, but this is how I feel. The story seems more like an older sister falling apart and being "unlucky" and a little sister just seeing things from the outside and getting jealous. Kind of like a middle schooler looking at a troubled but popular movie star and not realizing all the junk they're dealing with behind the scenes.

If you still want to read it go into it without the high expectations I had. I thought it would be deeper, but I feel like a lot of stuff was incomplete and I wasn't satisfied with the ending at all or the relationship between the sisters.

STORY SPOILERS AHEAD: DON'T CONTINUE IF YOU WANT THE PLOT TO BE GIVEN AWAY!!!! stop reading unless you want to know the ending......

The girls give up ballet and the younger one joins a yoga or creative movement class :(

The younger sister learns to dress "country" and makes new friends...
she also learns that her almost-boyfriend is a jerk.

The older sister gets into the in-crowd and has sex with her new boyfriend(the most popular boy in the school). The little sister finds out via reading her sister's old Instant Messages on the computer, on a day when the older sister forgot to log out. The little sister tells her parents and everyone else(I think I've got this right) and everyone says "so?"
SO? what way is that to end a story? SO?

Are you serious? So is the relationship a healthy one for a senior in high school?(or whatever she is), is the guy nice? Is the older sister a strong enough character?(not in my mind).

The character development between the sisters was not so great, in fact I think all the character development beween all of the characters was horrible. It brought the rating down for me as well as the scene were the author seems to be pushing her opinion on premarital sex (esp. among high schoolers) down our throats. The younger sister literally goes around telling people about her sister at the end of the book to hear their reply, "so?" I thought that was an odd way to wrap things up and a huge dissapointment in a YA novel.

I really liked the characters. Katie was slightly naive and could be whiny, but you really grew to love her. Michaela was really interesting: first, her dream is to dance. Then she falls in love and finds her place in a small town. Who would have guessed?

I loved the emphasis of dance. I am a dancer, so I absolutely adored the description of it. I completely identify with both Katie and Michaela and loved their relationship as sisters. Katie feels slightly betrayed that Michaela is branching out and Michaela starts to miss what they used to have. I liked their "tradition" of watching the stars together. It was very sweet.

Plus, I love how Katie starts to discover herself. First, she thinks that she belongs in the city as a ballerina at a prestigious dance school and dreads the thought of moving out to the country. She is also upset that her parents kept this fact from her and she barely found out from Michaela. Katie was innocent and sweet. She found herself falling in love, making friends, and finding her place in Fir Lake.

I really enjoyed the description of her friendship with Autumn and how she originally described her as a hick, but now realizes that appearances aren't everything. I loved watching her go through her first year in high school, love, friendship and family. I also enjoyed "Katya"s relationship with her Russian mother and her father. While not a lot of detail was put into those scenes, they were very well-written and connects you to the character.

I liked how Katie turned to yoga and tried to help Emmaline with the problems that she thought she had. Katie was very caring, but could be slightly selfish. Although, this is realistic because I have to admit that if I were told I had to uproot my life to move to a really random place, I'd probably be upset too. I liked how nature played a big role in this. I also liked the memories that Katie recalls about her and Michaela when they were younger and how they were weaved throughout the book.

The ending was absolutely adorable. It was cute, satisfying, and nicely wrapped up the story. This book is great if you want a book about love, family, friends, or life in general.

Recommended for anybody who loves: The Year I Turned Sixteen; The Dairy Queen; The Cupcake Queen; small-town books; ballerinas; The Splendor Falls; sister books, etc,.

Possible book club questions:

Michaela and Katie both wish that they could look like the other one. How is this typical of sisters and friends?
Katie is reluctant to put down roots in Fir Lake. Do you think that she believes she may go back to New York?
Why do you think that Autumn is so enraptured by the thought of ballet? How is this not adding up to her appearance?
In a small town, people know anything. How do you think that Michaela's secret didn't come out.
Michaela says that she wanted to be known as something else and start over in a new town. How do you think that she changed her personality while staying true to herself?
If you were Heather, what would you think of Katie?
Do you think that it was okay for Michaela to make a decision so important when she had just come to the town for about a year?
Think back to Michaela's confession at the theater in New York. Why might she feel that way?

Fourteen-year-old Katie Wilder has her whole world figured out. She and her older sister Michaela are best friends and ballerinas at a prestigious dance school in New York City. Their futures are mapped out as minutely as the New York City Subway system. They are City Girls, born and bred, and neither Wilder sister would have it any other way in The Year My Sister Got Lucky (2008) by Aimee Friedman.

That was August.

September finds the Wilder family moving upstate to the rural Adirondack town of Fir Lake.

Nothing is the way it was in the City. Everyone knows Katie's name (even if they can't actually pronounce "Katya") and her background. Neighbors say hello and the entire town is excited about a mysterious event referred to only as "Homecoming." In a town where everyone knows everyone, Katie feels like a stranger.

To make matters worse, Michaela has no such problems. Overnight it seems like Michaela has made a place for herself in Fir Lake finding popular friends, joining Yearbook, and even dating the gorgeous quarterback.

The harder Katie clings to her memories of City life, the more Michaela adapts to life in Fir Lake, leaving Katie to wonder what happens when your home doesn't feel like a home and your best friend starts to look like someone you don't know.

As a City Girl myself, it was great to read Friedman's evocative scenes early in The Year My Sister Got Lucky that so wonderfully capture the city I (gratefully) call home. While Friedman's descriptions of New York City are pitch perfect, right down to the ballerinas the flock there for summer dance programs, she also captures what I imagine is an authentic picture of rural life. Even as Katie aches to be back in New York, Friedman shows the unique beauty that can be found in a dark sky lit by stars instead of skyscrapers.

More than that, this story is about growing up. While her sister blossoms in their bucolic town, Katie struggles to understand what being a teenaged girl really means.

The Year My Sister Got Lucky is also a fully developed look at a year in the life of the Wilder family. Friedman brings together a lot of different elements to create a story that is funny and insightful and strikingly genuine from every angle.

Possible Pairings: King of the Screwups by K. L. Going, Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson, Boy Toy by Barry Lyga, A Map of the Known World by Lisa Ann Sandell, How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford

Summary: Katie and Michaela are ballerinas, sisters, and best friends whose relationship undergoes significant changes when their family moves from NYC to small town Fir Lake.

I had some problems with this book as in I didn't really like Katie, the main character and narrator of the book. I don't know if this is because I also moved in high school and am an older sister more like Michaela or if I wouldn't have liked her anyway.

I did enjoy the description of ballet but I found Katie's attitude so off-putting. She hates that she's moved and she finds herself so much better than the Fir Lake natives. She doesn't even attempt to make new friends or even to be friendly to people. She was also very mean to her sister (not that my sister and I are always so nice to each other but I don't think we've ever been that bad.) My sister also read this book though and she didn't like it much either.

One thing I did like is that it left me thinking about my relationship with my sister and I think it might do the same for other girls. I find that we weren't really friends but are working to build more of a relationship beyond the fact that we have the same parents. In my opinion, she is being too much of a stereotypical teenager now as in bratty, complaining, never satisfied. But she can also be very sweet at times.

In general I also felt that the plot was underdeveloped. The sister relationship was the focus but plots with Katie giving up ballet in favor of yoga and her crush on a new friend's brother (I love that storyline but always feel like it would never work in real life) felt rather rushed to me. I guess it's already a bit on the long side (370 pages) but I never think that should stop an author from bringing everything to a satisfying conclusion.

Overall: 3/5 for a rather unsympathetic main character and underdevelopment of subplots.

Katie and her sister Michaela are extremely close, more like best friends. They have lived in New York all their lives, both attend a prestigious ballet school and both love their lives in New York. Or so it seems.
Katie is devestated when she finds out that she has to move with her family to a small town, called Fir Lake, in upstate New York. It's nothing like her beloved New York City. The people are overly friendly, her new ballet school is, to put it bluntly, a joke and they actually live near real cows! Katie immediately sticks out like a sore thumb, with her 'New York' sense of style and attitude. But to her surprise and horror, Michaela fits in straight away.

As Michaela settles into her new country life, making friends, gaining a footballer boyfriend, joining the yearbook team and attending homecoming, she and Katie grow apart. Katie finally does start making friends and trying new things, but she does this reluctantly. And then she finds out that Michaela has been hiding things from her, important things that she would usually tell Katie. Can these sisters also be best friends?

I had added The Year my Sister got Lucky to my wish list on Amazon, only to have it bought by my Library the next day. What a coincidence! And I'm glad I got to read it too, as it was a wonderful and entertaining book, with a great message about how your attitude effects your situation. Both Katie and Michaela were likeable, in their own way. Neither of them were perfect and made plenty of mistakes through the book, but this was part of what made them so likeable and real. The Year my Sister got Lucky is a great story about sisterhood, change and growing up that I'd definitely recommend.

Even though I'm 14, the same age as Katie, I found her completely unrelateable. Her sense of humor and personality were far too young and immature at some parts and too old at others, rarely was it just right. There were also many stereotypical, cliched characters. Many plot lines and characters were underdeveloped, for instance...


*SPOILER ALERT*



Autumn. She seems more like the annoying friend that the main character ditches later in the book for the better friend. Instead, she IS the better friend. It seemed like all she ever did was make fun of Katie.

Jasper. The author definitely did NOT go into enough detail about Jasper. One conversation, and Katie likes him. She has all of two and a half conversations with him in the book. The author should have gone into considerably more detail about him.

Unlike the other reviewers, my favorite characters were actually Michaela and Emmaline. In fact, they were the only ones I really liked at all, and I didn't even particularly love them.

Also, almost all of the plotlines were underdeveloped: Katie doing yoga, Katie liking Jasper, Katie's relationships with her family, Mabel Thorpe's dance class, her relationships with her friends in the city, Emmaline... it just seemed like the author tried to put in too many plotlines and it didn't work out. Quality is more important than quantity.

Well in conclusion... read this book if there's nothing else, but don't pick it up because it looks interesting. Because, truthfully, it's not. I feel like I wasted my time.