Review: What Happened to My Sister

This book is the story of Carrie Parker, her mother, and Carrie's imaginary friend, Emma. Carrie's mother is abusive and negligent, and she is vehemently opposed to Carrie's companionship with Emma. Over the course of the novel we eventually find out why. Carrie desperately longs for her mother's attention and affection, and walks on eggshells to avoid raising her mother's ire. The slightest thing sends Libby Parker into a rage. When Carrie meets Cricket she makes the first real friend of her life, and attention from Cricket's family gives Carrie some much needed stability.

This is a book about a child's will to survive in the face of horrible abuse. Throughout the book I kept hoping that Libby would be caught and taken away- her treatment of Carrie is criminal. The book is billed as a possible stand-alone read. Certainly it's possible to dive in and understand what is necessary to appreciate this book. Still, this is a follow-up to Flock's Me and Emma, and the premise of the entire plot gives away what I suspect is the crux of the first book. I haven't read Me and Emma, but I suspect the plot of What Happened to My Sister relies on some major spoilers.

Elizabeth Flock, What Happened to My Sister (Ballantine, 2012) ISBN: 0345524438