One
by Sarah Crossan
Novel in Verse
Realistic Fiction
* * * * Stars (Great!)
Grace and Tippy are teenaged conjoined (from the waist down) twins who are going to attend private school for the first time (they were homeschooled before) and they’re nervous about how people will react to them. Going out in public is usually an ordeal for them as everyone stares. But, they make a couple of friends quickly and school isn’t so bad. Home is worse, since their dad has been out of work for a while and has been coping with his frustration and depression by drinking way too much. When their mother also loses her job, the girls decide to help support the family by agreeing to have a documentary filmed about their lives and circumstances. After an illness damages Grace’s heart, the twins have a tough decision to make – opt for a dangerous surgery that will separate them but will give them the best chance to live, or continue as they are and know that their shared body will fail them eventually. A fascinating and ultimately tragic verse novel of sisters, family, friendship, and loss. Readers will race through this to discover the twins’ fate.
Reviewed by YA Librarian
