My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece Audiobook

Quotes

• “[A] powerfully honest, quirkily humorous debut novel…Jamie’s pivotal friendship with a Muslim girl, Sunya, is a standout. Pitcher tackles grief, prejudice, religion, bullying, and familial instability through the unsentimental voice of a boy who loves Spider-Man and Manchester United, misses his mother, and—truth be told—doesn’t remember his dead sister all that well. The adults in Pitcher’s story may be a mess, but the kids are all right.”

  — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

• “As a study of grief’s collateral damage, it deals with the topic realistically without losing sight of hope. Jamie is a frank narrator whose naïveté is tempered by the wisdom he acquires. He relies on his relationship with Jas for stability and eventually sets his own moral compass. An outstanding first novel.”

  — Booklist (starred review)

• “Capturing the confusion of an optimistic but sensitive child navigating a tough situation without guidance, Jamie’s narration is by turns comic and painful…Each character is believably flawed, and readers anticipate the heartbreaking scene when Jamie’s plans for a family reunion fail. However, the final triumphant chapters of this striking debut demonstrate that even as Jamie’s sorrows increase, so too, does his capacity for understanding, courage, and love.”

  — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

• “This book is a great catalyst for opening conversations about death and loss as well as difficult discussions about hatred and prejudice.”

  — Children’s Literature

• “Compelling and believable…By turns heartbreaking and hysterically funny…This is an important book that could be used in classes and book-discussion groups. Don’t let it fall through the cracks.”

  — School Library Journal (starred review)

• “This is a book which could easily have sunk under the weight of sentimentality. That it doesn’t, that it is an inspiring tale of resilience and kindness, is a tribute to Pitcher. This is a fine debut novel. Truthful, clear-eyed, and wise.”

  — Telegraph (UK)

• “It lives off the page. It has a warmth you can bask in; an honesty you can cut with a knife.”

  — Guardian (UK)

• "It lives off the page. It has a warmth you can bask in; an honesty you can cut with a knife." —The Guardian UK

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