No Sisters Sisters Club

Eleven-year-old Bailey Fish is starting to enjoy her new life in Central Virginia after her traveling mother sends her to live with her grandmother, Sugar. Suddenly, strangers arrive-a father she does not know and an annoying half sister, Norma Jean. Norma Jean smiles too much, touches everything, and is not like Bailey's best friends who are more like real sisters. Norma Jean even sees the good in Justin, a former bully, who is raising a pet crow. Bailey and her best friends form the No Sisters Sisters Club to keep Norma Jean out. Attitudes change when the sisters learn that they must work together to solve the scary mysteries of Bailey's stolen kitten, Sallie, and a fire at an old house.

Historical information includes Jack Jouett's ride from Cuckoo to Charlottesville to save Thomas Jefferson and other patriots, and the Civil War Battle of Trevilian Station.

Here's an excerpt from the book. Don't miss the excitement of the whole adventure.

Then, Sallie peeked around the tombstone, her black tail with the white tip twitching as she slipped behind it.

"Gotcha," said a voice that sounded like a branch scraping on the side of a house.

Bailey and Norma Jean looked at each other in confusion.

"Where have you been, Bootsie?" I've been looking everywhere for you."

The girls jumped to their feet and rushed to the gravestone.

An old woman, with hair that looked like she had stuck her finger in an electrical socket was sitting under a bush. Her fierce blue eyes started at the girls like she could see through them. She clutched Sallie.

"That's my kitten," said Bailey.

"My cat," said the old woman. Sallie squirmed in her arms by the woman was not about to let go. . . .

"Please let me have her," said Bailey.

"Mine," said the old woman.

The old woman stood up. Bailey could not see her kitten. Then she realized that the woman had put Sallie in the pillowcase.

"Please let me have my kitten," begged Bailey.

"Mine," said the old woman as she shuffled away into the woods.

"Bailey Fish is an engaging character, and Salisbury's book is a splendid adventure. Bailey breathes. Best of all are the book club questions . . . (that) will stimulate thinking and will be fun for readers." Sally Bolding, author of The Cyclops Window and Riverbottom Decades.

Book Report
"I chose to do my book report on No Sisters Sisters Club, which was written by Linda Salisbury. It was published by Tabby House and copywritten in 2006. This book is set in our time and in Virginia. This fictional story has characters such as Bailey, Sugar (her grandmother) Emily, Justin and Norma Jean. This book tells of how Bailey Fish meets her father and an annoying half sister she’s never met. When she finds out that Norma Jean, her half sister, is going to stay at her house for a week, she is not excited. When Norma Jean and Bailey have to save Sallie they must work together. And when their father takes them for ice cream, Bailey gets a very unwanted surprise! I thought this book was well-written because it was very engaging. This book is very much true-to-life because every thing in the book is possible. I liked this book because Bailey has two kittens and it has a good and engaging plot. If I had to rate this book I would rate it the highest rating possible. I learned from this book that first impressions can be deceiving. And to always be cautious around strangers." By Juliana Hennig, age 11

"In crafting a juvenile thriller with a heart, Salisbury shows that she understands the craftiness of writing. Plot is key, but a plot alone is not enough. Readers must be made to feel for the lead characters. The plot must act as resistance training, pushing the main character to exhibit new muscles of the head, heart and soul. . . . Bailey pulls a Columbus, taking the long way around. In doing so, she makes the readers respect and her not only for her heart, but also because she shows she has a brain. . . Salisbury understands that these are new times, in which nuclear families have been exploded with all the power and psychic damage of a nuclear bomb. In these new times, we need new books to raise the children well. 'Sisters' fills that bill nicely." James M. Abraham, book columnist, the Charlotte Sun

"No Sisters Sisters Club . . . continues the Bailey Fish Adventure series, which is especially recommended to young readers, ages 8-12." James A. Cox, Children's Bookwatch, Midwest Book Review.

"I loved it. So easy to read and enjoy Bailey Fish's adventures and feelings so graphically expressed. They come out of the page so alive." Lucille Caddoo

Reviewed by India Furney (age 12) for Reader Views (www.readerviewskids.com)
“I liked No Sisters Sisters Club a lot and really enjoyed reading it. I could relate to the Sisters Club because I have three friends and we call ourselves ‘sisters.’ I think this is great for girls ages 8-13.”

Sample Book Club Question: Try rewriting the scene when Norma Jean first meets Bailey, but tell it in Norma Jean's words.

Links: www.ascaronline.org/crowfaq.html | www.ushistory.com/jjrquide.htm | www.trevilianstation.org | www.visitguam.org | www.tabbyhouse.com