This new Chicken Soup book offers a heartwarming and uplifting collection of stories that celebrate the lifelong bond of sisterhood.

Whether they share this special connection with someone through genetics or the heart, only a sister can understand the complex, deep and dynamic relationship they share with loved ones as they journey together through the stages of life.

For younger sisters who look up to an older one, older siblings who tolerate a younger sister tagging along, or the brother who knows full well that girls can wrestle as well as any boy can, this book celebrates the sisters in our lives. It conveys how sisters influence us during life's most defining moments: helping us face the schoolyard bully; providing wise counsel during our first crush and subsequent comfort after the breakup; and refusing to reveal intimate secrets to parents or friends.

With real-life stories from celebrities and everyday sisters-next-door, chapters include: On Love, Insights and Lessons, Sibling Rivalry, Overcoming Obstacles, The Bond Between Sisters, Sisters by Heart, On Family (Brothers, Too!), and Special Memories and Traditions.

While they may not live under the same roof, act in the same manner or even get along without an occasional spat, nothing creates a more special and lasting bond than sisterhood. Now there's a book to celebrate that bond.

Revenge of the Fifth-Grade Girls

An older sister helps one remain half child, half woman.
Anonymous

A mother cannot force her daughters to become sisters. She cannot make them be friends or companions or even cohorts in crime. But, if she's very lucky, they find sisterhood for themselves and have one true ally for life. My daughters did not seem likely candidates for sisterly love. They are as different as night and day, and as contrary as any two girls living under the same roof can possibly manage.

My youngest daughter, Laura, is smart, athletic and good at most everything she tries. But for her, friendships are tricky. When, at seven years old, she was thrust into the world of lunch pals and sleepovers, she struggled to survive.

Catherine, on the other hand, sits at the top of the elementary school pecking order. A bright, popular and beautiful fifth-grader, she is usually surrounded by a bevy of adoring girlfriends. When you are in second grade, a word or nod from a fifth-grade girl is the greatest thing that can happen. But Catherine and her friends seldom noticed her sister's valiant attempts to be accepted.

One hectic morning, while getting ready for school, both girls began begging for a new hairstyle. Sighing, I gathered brushes, combs and pins and quickly created new looks. I braided Laura's wispy locks into a snazzy side-braid. I combed Catherine's shiny black hair into a sleek French twist. They twirled in front of the mirror, pleased with what I'd done.

Laura bounced out the door, swinging her braid proudly. But at school, one girl pointed at her and whispered to the other girls. Then the girl walked up to Laura and asked in a scathing tone, "What's with the stinking braid?"

Laura crumbled. After getting permission from her teacher, she went to the bathroom, where she sat and cried in an empty stall. Then, she splashed cold water on her face and bravely returned to the classroom-braid intact.

That afternoon, she broke my heart with her sad tale. How could I have sent her out wearing a stinking braid? How could I have set her back in her meager attempts to fit in with the other girls? I fought back my tears as I drove my girls home. Hearing her sister's sorrow, Catherine sat in stony silence, and as I often do, I wished they had the kind of bond that would allow them to reach out to each other. I barely noticed Catherine spent more time on the phone than usual that evening.

The next afternoon, when I pulled to the front of the carpool line, I discovered a small miracle had occurred. There stood Laura, surrounded by the smartest, cutest, most popular fifth-grade girls. My tiny daughter glowed with utter astonishment as they twirled her around, complimented her and focused a brilliant light of attention upon her. And, to my amazement, every single one wore a side-braid, exactly like the one Laura had worn the day before. Ten stinking braids, I thought, as I tried to swallow the lump lodged in my throat. "I don't know what happened!" exclaimed Laura, clamoring into the van. "I looked up, and all the girls were wearing my braid." She grinned all the way home, arms wrapped around skinny knees, reliving her short life's happiest moment.

I glanced at Catherine in the rearview mirror and I think she winked at me. I'm not sure.

Carolyn Magner Mason
2002 Carloyn Magner Mason

2002. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Chicken Soup for the Sister's Soul by Patty Mitchell Aubery, Nancy Mitchell Autio, Heather McNamara, Katy McNamara, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the publisher. Publisher: Health Communications, Inc., 3201 SW 15th Street, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442.