The Year My Sister Got Lucky by Aimee Friedman

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.

Rating: 4.75

Review copy from personal collection