Frenemies in the Family: Famous Brothers and Sisters Who Butted Heads and Had Each Other's Backs by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Maple Lam, 240 pp, RL 4

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April 10 is National Sibling Day!!

Frenemies in the Family: Famous Brothers and Sisters Who Butted Heads and Had Each Other's Backs, written by Kathleen Krull and marvelously illustrated by Maple Lam is a funny, fascinating book that is part biography, part sociological and psychological overview of what it means to have siblings, part graphic novel and part history book that kids and adults will love.
Krull, a superb non-fiction children's book author with many wonderful books to her name, focuses on fifteen sets of siblings throughout history, pulling from the worlds of art, politics, entertainment, technology, music, sports and royalty, using humor to draw in readers. After an introduction (where Krull tells readers they will meet, in chronological order, siblings who were, "BFFs, deeply attached, or even literally attached.") readers are introduced to Queens Elizabeth 1 and Mary 1 with a chapter titled, "Your Sister Wants to Kill You - Really." Approximately ten pages detail the history of the siblings, followed by four graphic novel style pages with illustrated panels that add historical context or other interesting facts (like the creation of the word "siblicide").

Along with the queens, Princes William and Harry, the Romanovs, and the Kennedys are featured siblings. The Williams sisters and Manning brothers represent the world of sports while the Wright brothers represent inventors and Theo and Vincent van Gogh represent siblings from the world of art. Entertainers make up the rest of the book, starting with conjoined twins Cheng and Eng Bunker. Walt and Roy Disney, the Jacksons and Demi Lovato and her sister are rounded out by the Gosselins (who's chapter is titled, "Turning Real Siblings into a Reality Show,") and Stephen Colbert, the youngest of eleven children. Along with an index, backmatter includes a fantastic list of sources. After reading Frenemies in the Family, readers are sure to want to know more about at least one of these families!



Source: Review Copy

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