The Norris Girls by Nigel Hinton (Children's, 9 years +, 10E/10E)

 June 2017, Candy Jar Books, 301 pages, Paperback, Review copy 

Summary from Candy Jar Books

Dad is away in a dangerous place, but life must go on for the Norris girls.

Beth dreams of being in the school musical, especially when super cool Josh gets the lead part.

Georgy trains every day, trying to win a place in the Inter-Counties Athletics Championships, but first she has to beat her arch-rival, Layla.

And Katie wants an animal to look after – a dog or cat or a rabbit would do, but if she could choose one thing in the whole world it would be a pony.

Nayu's thoughts 

Aside from having an awesome name and logo which would have me checking out any of their books, Candy Jar certainly have a gem of a read in this book which was described as being a bit like Little Women by Lousia May Alcott, a book I absolutely love. I've watched and enjoyed the film version (which may or may not have starred Clare Danes), I've read the book countless times, both in paperback form and as an audiobook, and I'm currently watching the anime series. All those are brilliant, and so too is The Norris Girls, for being itself. There are memorable nods to Little Women including a fierce temper and a hair cutting incident (plus kittens!), but it is it's own story.

Each of the sisters have distinctive personalities, and, something which I think contributes as to why I loved this book so much is the fact that their mother is including as one of the girls. I guessed from the summary that it would be an emotional read, and that something would happen to their father, but what actually happens was a surprise. It became quite an intense read, not as light hearted as I'd expected, but completely brilliant in execution and style. The insight into the reality which their mother kept mostly hidden from them made me love her inner strength, and the need to take great care of her girls during her husband's absence. His job isn't what I expected from the summary, and taught me something knew about occupations that are needed in areas with conflict. The way the girls handle the separation is interesting because they handle it differently in some ways, and the same in others. 

Georgy, who reminded me of Little Women's Jo, had many things that frustrated me personality wise, but she matures over the story with each hardship that she faces. I rolled my eyes a lot over Beth swooning over Josh, but the way the theatre plot expands it teaches her a lot too. 

As for Katie, who reminds me a little of Beth, she is my favourite sister. She is beloved by all, and quite sensitive to emotions. I loved the way her older sisters tried to protect her from the hardships they faced, and when they couldn't they supported her as if she was their age, using a family ritual that is inventive and filled me with warmth every time I read about it. Katie makes mistakes, but she has an enormous heart for animals, and takes a incredibly brave step when faced with her dream, which I promise eventually does have a happy ending. Her family eventually realise she isn't a baby any more and they change how they talk to her by the end. 

You'll definitely need tissues for this book, and I truly hope there will be a sequel one day because I hated finishing the book and leaving the sisters and their parents. It's most definitely on my reread shelf! 

Find out more on Nigel's website.

Suggested read

For more sister centric tales check out The Chocolate Box Girls series by Cathy Cassidy which I somehow don't seem to have reviewed (I think I did on a different website which wasn't my own and got removed)

 and The Strawberry Sisters series by Candy Harper including The Strawberry Sisters #2 Especially Amelia by Candy Harper (Children's, 9 years +, 10E/10E, short 'n' sweet review)