Sisters in Sanity (Hardcover)

by Gayle Forman (Author)
Key Phrases: Level One, Level Three, Level Six (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Have you ever had the out-of-control dream? The one where you know you're not crazy, but no one around you—not your parents, not your teachers, not even the authorities—will listen to you?

For sixteen-year-old Brit Hemphill, the out-of-control dream comes true when her dad enrolls her at Red Rock, a bogus treatment center that claims to cure rebellious teen girls. At Red Rock, Brit is forced into therapy, and her only hope of getting her life back is in the hands of an underqualified staff of counselors. Brit's dad thinks Red Rock can save her, but the truth is it's doing more harm than good.

No girl could survive Red Rock alone—but at a treatment center where you earn privileges for ratting out your peers, it's hard to know who you can trust. For Brit, everything changes when she meets V, Bebe, Martha, and Cassie, four girls who keep her from going over the edge. Together they'll hold on to their sanity and their sisterhood while trying to keep their Red Rock reality from becoming a full-on nightmare.

About the Author

Gayle Forman is an award-winning author and journalist whose articles have appeared in such publications as Jane, Seventeen, Glamour, Elle, and The New York Times Magazine, to name just a few. She lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: HarperTeen (August 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060887478
• ISBN-13: 978-0060887476
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,183,783 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, August 28, 2007

By	TeensReadToo.com "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

Most of us never have to worry about going on a family vacation, only to find out that we're being unceremoniously dropped off at a boot camp, instead. We have never questioned the imminent arrival of "escorts" who come in the middle of the night and drag us away, kicking and screaming, from our home. We've never wondered what it would be like to be shuffled off by our parents to a "rehabilitation school" because we're overweight -- or because we might possibly be gay. For Brit, V, Bebe, Cassie, and Martha, however, the above mentioned scenarios aren't just nightmares. They're real events.

Welcome to Red Rock, a "school" in the middle of Utah run by the Sheriff, staffed by pseudo-psychiatrists like Dr. Clayton, and guarded by former bouncers with more muscles than brains. This is the place where parents can send their children when they rebel, misbehave, or show antisocial behavior. Red Rock offers such pleasantries as "confrontational therapy," where girls are called names and hounded until they break down and cry, a punishment system where being sent back to Level One status means complete isolation and no shoes, and where the food comes in freeze dried blocks.

The problem is that, although there may be a few "students" at Red Rock who really belong in such a school, most of them, like main character Brit, don't. These are teens who may have lost their way, sure, but their behavior isn't anything beyond normal adolescent angst. But what the parents don't know -- and what it's up to the Sisters in Sanity to prove -- is that Red Rock is a place full of fakes who are doing more harm than good.

When Brit and fellow "inmates" V, Bebe, Cassie, and Martha set out to get the school shut down, it's all the girls can do to avoid trouble, keep their chins up, and survive. But in the process, these five girls find a friendship that eventually helps them all in ways they'd never expected.

Ms. Forman has written a fast-paced page turner that you'll find hard to put down. SISTERS IN SANITY, although not based in hard truth, does show the frightening aspect of so-called "boot camps" for teens, and you'll find yourself appalled at the reality of the situation. Ultimately, however, you'll be overjoyed to watch Brit and her friends not only buck the system, but find their own places in the world.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

4.0 out of 5 stars Sisters in Sanity, June 30, 2009

By	K. Lepp (Tallinn, Estonia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Sisters in Sanity (Paperback)

It is a really interesting and fun book to read. It's not only ment for the teenagers because I'm much older than that. I like this book a lot.

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice Novel, October 25, 2008

By	Shooting Stars Magazine (Ky,Ma,) - See all my reviews

Then

Brit Hemphill's parents met at a U2 concert and eventually got married. They traveled the world and finally settled down and opened up CoffeeNation, a place where artists and musicians came to hang out. This allowed Brit, an only child, to grow up around the likes of Kurt Cobain. It was, literally, the life.

Now

Suddenly, she finds her self not on a family trip to the Grand Canyon but enrolled in Red Rock Academy. They call what they do there therapy, but it's more like "tough love" for girls they feel are out of control. Defiant Brit finds herself learning how to survive in a place where you fake it or you lose all control.
Soon, Brit finds safety in numbers when she forms a secret club with V, Bebe, Cassie, and Martha. Some of their "crimes" include being overweight, maybe being a lesbian, and being, let's say, a little too boy crazy.
This book is definite girl power, but beyond that, it's about trusting in your self and not backing down from what you believe in, even if the odds are against you. Forman shows that the things everyone seems to be so afraid of in a person are just one part of them. They are so much more.
I recommend this book to any and every girl out there, to show the meaning of being you and what friendship truly is.
Song to go along with this book: "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett
What I like to call Bebe's theme song.