In My Sister Rosa, Che Taylor is a normal teenager living an abnormal life. His negligent parents, entrepreneurs from Australia, live a hectic lifestyle, constantly starting new businesses in different parts of the world, causing the family to move frequently. From the start of the book the story is set in New York, the newest location Che’s parents have opened a business in.
Che tries to live as normal a life as he can, setting goals for himself like becoming a better boxer and practicing sparring (against his parents’ wishes), getting a girlfriend, but most importantly, keeping his little sister Rosa under control to prevent her from hurting anybody.
Che alone has always sensed something was wrong with Rosa ever since she was a baby – her pets’ mysterious deaths, her compulsive lying, and her alarming lack of empathy. Rosa’s behavior grows more and more disturbing, and Che alone seems to be the only one to take notice of her psychopathy; his parents’ negligence and absence in his life and the family’s constant moving causes Che’s feelings of detachment from his parents and inability to make friends. He feels isolated in the world and his feelings of helplessness worsen as Rosa’s behavior grows more sinister and he seems to be the only one to notice.
Eerily compelling themes of crime, psychopathy, and passion depicted in this book are told in first-person by Che Taylor – an intelligent, perceptive, and engaging narrator. This book is a must-read for teens as it covers many issues a lot of readers can relate to, like peer pressure, social conflicts, and making friends. The psychological information on criminal behaviors are fascinating, well-woven into the story without being too boring or dense to read. Author Justine Larbalestier does a great job in this book, giving us a gripping, psychological thriller that will definitely keep you on your toes.
Call # Fiction L321m
Student review by Amina