Better Together

May 15, 2021
Estranged sisters plan a scheme � la The Parent Trap but are met with an unexpected twist. Eighteen-year-old Siri Maza from New Jersey is mired in anger and uncertainty after an injury cuts short her burgeoning ballet career. At her mother's insistence, she agrees to attend a wellness retreat in Colorado--and crashes into a barely remembered long-lost sister she's been told was an imaginary friend. After bombing spectacularly onstage, 20-year-old Los Angeles comedian Jamie Federov is happy to escape to the Rediscover Yourself retreat, even if it is one of several conditions set by her father upon her moving back home. Jamie's shocked when she encounters the younger sister she hasn't seen since their parents split up 14 years ago. Spotting an opportunity for comedic inspiration, Jamie hatches a plot for the two to temporarily swap places and confront their parents. Only when they're on their respective flights home do they realize that they've been transformed to look like one another. The relative ease with which various characters accept the magical element strains belief, but the sisters' growth over the course of the story is convincing and satisfying. With help from their love interests, Pakistani Zarar and Filipina Dawn--both of whom are well developed and endearing--Jamie and Siri, who are White, confront their individual flaws and strengths and learn to accept the work inherent to healthy familial relationships. Thoughtful and entertaining. (Fiction. 14-18)

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July 1, 2021

Gr 9 Up-Siri, an 18-year-old ballet dancer, receives the devastating news that a back injury has derailed her career. Jamie, a 20-year-old aspiring stand-up comedian, is unsure about her future after a humiliating performance. Both girls turn to the Rediscover Yourself retreat to refocus their lives. While neither girl attends willingly, both hope the experience will be life-changing. It is, just not in a way either girl imagined. When the two literally run into each other, Jamie recognizes Siri as the sister she has not seen for 14 years, due to their parents' bitter divorce and custody agreement. After spending the week tentatively reconnecting with Siri, Jamie convinces her to pull a Parent Trap switch. The sisters, with a boost from a magic glitter bomb, swap homes, parents, and personas. But the big reveal falls flat; the pair discovers revenge is unfulfilling and reality is messier than a movie script. With the assistance of a therapist, the sisters examine how their manipulated upbringing shaped their emotional development, and they eventually attain a more satisfying rapprochement with their parents. The overall read is compelling, particularly the after story, as the girls pick up the messy pieces. There is romance for both girls; one is heterosexual and the other is bisexual. The sisters present as white, their love interests are Pakistani and Filipino, and other minor characters vary in race. VERDICT Both realistic fiction and romance readers will enjoy this updated Parent Trap that focuses on the psychological trauma wreaked by selfish grown-ups.-Nancy Nadig, Penn Manor Sch. Dist., Lancaster, PA

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