readers advisory for all discussion

I've always been extremely fascinated and intrigued by sibling relationships, but it's mostly something I've come across in movies and tv-shows (Supernatural, Firefly to name a few), but not so much in books.

So here I am, asking if you have any recommendations for books with strong sibling relationships in them?
I prefer brother/sister or brother/brother, but sister/sister would do as well.

To be more specific it is the protective, "I will do anything for this person" that I find the most interesting. The plot itself doesn't have to be centred around their relationship though (but it's okay if it is).

If anyone has something with that I'll be very grateful :)

does it matter if it is YA or adult fiction?

The first to come to mind are Into the Forest by Jean Hegland and Feed by Mira Grant, but I'll keep thinking on this one.

Karen: no, I can do with almost any genre :)

Christy: thank you! They both look really interesting, I'll put them on my list!

ooh - both of christy's are good. i just read Sisters Red, so that was on my mind. it is YA, with a sister-sister relationship where one sister saved the other's life at an early age, and then continues to have protective, almost maternal feelings for her thereafter.it is reciprocal, but the older sister is way more single-minded about it. i'm sure there are others - i will have to look through my booklist later.

These are all sister/sister and you've probably read them:

I Capture the Castle: there is some sibling tension and betrayal, but an underlying devotion and understanding, I think. There are actually brothers in this, too.

Sense Sensibility: kind of the same. Sisters are opposite, but totally devoted to each other.

Pride and Prejudice: Good sisters / bad sisters, but I think the book is mostly about Jane and Lizzy.

The Hunger Games isn't about that, I guess, but it's the underlying premise. One sister taking the bullet for the other.

Atonement: about sisters, but written by a man, so there is an interesting disconnect between the sisters that has a different tone than women writing sisters, I think.

King Lear: eeeevil sisters.

Taming of the Shrew: polarized sisters.

Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: these siblings drove me nuts. So annoying.

Cinderella, of course.

brother/sister:

Blood Red Road: twin brother/sister, and the sister has to save the brother from doom. The brother isn't a large part of the book, but he is the symbolic focus.

Wither: same as above, except the sister is the one in trouble and just has to get back to the brother. Also, it's a really dumb book, imao.

Twelfth Night: brother/sister twins and mistaken identity. More hijinks than exploration of the characters.

I just read Ronia the Robber's Daughter and it is wonderful, and there is a really interesting relationship between two kids who call themselves brother and sister.

The Trouble with May Amelia is really wonderful, I think, but I'm not sure if it's just really specific to me. It is about a girl with tons of brothers.

brother/brother:

Isn't East of Eden a classic brother story? I haven't read it, but people rave.

Also, isn't Torn about a strong sibling relationship? KIDDING!

I will probably think of more as soon as I go home and don't have internet anymore.

Ooo, and more from TV: Freaks and Geeks and Arrested Development.

Oh, also The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, of course.

Oh omg I can't believe I forgot these! brother/brother:

Brothers Karamazov: Wonderful, wonderful book, sort of an exploration of good and evil through family relationships and the death of a family member.

Brothers K: unrelated to brothers Karamazov. One of my favorite favorite books ever. It is about brothers in the Pacific Northwest. There is baseball, religion-related hilarity, and tragedy. So love!

River Why also has a wonderful brother/brother relationship, but Brothers K is a better overall book, I think. I love both, and I hope River Why is not jealous that I just said that.

I remembered others when I went home, just as I thought would happen.

All of the J.D. Salingers. ESPECIALLY, though, Franny and Zooey and then the rest of that series, which should be read in the following order or I will cry:

1. Franny and Zooey
2. Raise High the Roofbeams Carpenters and Seymour an Introduction
3. Nine Stories

It's been my experience that if you read them in the reverse order, you are annoyed.

Also, of course, The Iliad!! The gods! Such a hilarious family.

And, back to the kid stories Gregor the Overlander. I looooove that book. The sister is really little, though she is generally the motivator for all of the plot action. That is more of a River/Simon relationship, I think, than any of the others I've listed. But, instead of being crazy, Boots is a toddler.

Most anything by Noel Streatfeild, including her autobiographical A Vicarage Family.

Five Children and It (and most of Nesbit's books to some degree)

Nightlife (paranormal)

Faking It (romance)

Time of the Twins D&D-type fantasy)

Freedom and Necessity (historical adventure/mystery in which the four main characters are cousins or step-siblings)

Grave Sight (psychics)

Pierre et Jean by Guy De Maupassant is a terrific novella about two brothers, and what happens to their relationship when one of them receives an inheritance from a "family friend."

Six Fang Marks and Tetanus Shot is a hilarious and moving novel about two brothers living in Amsterdam that flashes back and forth to their childhood in South Africa and a tragic incident that haunts them.

Oh my god, guys, you all have such excellent recommendations. I'll definitely take a look at them all! Thank you so much, I'm very grateful, I'll have to start reading some immediately!

I've read the Jane Austen novels before, but never with sibling relationships in mind as such, perhaps I should re-read some of them with this perspective.

I'm happy there are so many different genres as well. Can't wait to start.

One more rec: John Irving's The Hotel New Hampshire. I'd also second Salinger's Franny and Zooey.

How about On the Black Hill ?

Kirstine wrote: "I've always been extremely fascinated and intrigued by sibling relationships, but it's mostly something I've come across in movies and tv-shows (Supernatural, Firefly to name a few), but not so muc..." there is a great (and creepy) brother/brother/sister relationship in this hickory nut noir in "Bright's passage"

Jacob Have I Loved: Katherine Paterson

A Thousand Acres: Jane Smiley

Into the Forest: Jean Hegland

Beezus and Ramona: Beverly Cleary

Julius Baby of the World: Kevin Henkes

Middlemarch: George Eliot

March: Geraldine Brooks

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox: Maggie O'Farrell

stone arabia is supposed to be fantastic, one of best novels of 2011 sister/brother Stone Arabia

I just remembered:

Coldwater by Mardi McConnochie

so I couldn't think of any off the top of my head so I was googling to see if that reminded me of anything and I found this article
http://www.observer.com/2006/07/sibli...
it looks like it's by someone who also likes these kinds of books.

sadly I have managed to be reminded of nothing so that's all I have.

The Jade Cabinet (sisters, Victorian setting)

I've read a good one this year, western style: The Sisters Brothers

Algernon wrote: "I've read a good one this year, western style: The Sisters Brothers"

Great suggestion! LOVED this book.

This Much I Know is True... twin brothers.
Rose's Will... brother / sister

This book, The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson is a brilliant portrayal of family. It's about a pair of artists, Caleb and Camille Fang, who use their family to create chaos in public locations and call it art. Basically there's just a lot of thought of "Is it okay that they are putting their kids through this?" And I found it very interesting to see the emotional and psychological impacts of the 'artwork' on the children through their adult lives. The novel goes back and forth between their adulthoods and childhoods, and it's just really freaking GOOD writing.

Henry's Sisters
by Cathy Lamb

Cloudstreet

and were the seven dwarfs brothers?

Ender's Game

Half-Brother by Kenneth Oppel

Kevin wrote: "Ender's Game"

Ender's Game? It has virtually zero sibling relationship.

I second Kevin: "Ender's Game" (for a strong reader or a science fiction fan)

Christine wrote: "I second Kevin: "Ender's Game" (for a strong reader or a science fiction fan)"
are you all some sort of stealth mormon book front or something? enders game enders game enders game blah blah. that is a mediocre book at best. sorry.

I just finished my second listening of the audiobook of "Ender's Game," and it is one of my favorites. To each his own...

Christine wrote: "I just finished my second listening of the audiobook of "Ender's Game," and it is one of my favorites. To each his own..."

Fine Christine, but this thread is dedicated to books with a Strong Sibling Bond...which you must admit is NOT present in Ender's Game.

SPOILER ALERT!

Robert wrote: Fine Christine, but this thread is dedicated to books ..."

I disagree. Ender and his sister, Valentine, are companions in their resistance to their brother, Peter. When Ender goes to battle school, Valentine is the only person he truly misses, and the person he trusts most in the world. The relationship between Ender and Valentine is strong enough that it is exploited by adults (Graff) to get Ender to do their bidding. In fact, Valentine cares for Ender so much that she is willing to commit her future to the colonization of other worlds, in order to protect Ender from being used by the Hegemon after his victory.

Personally, I find this sibling relationship to be one of the most vivid ones.

How about a Classic? A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. I feel the whole sibling equation and its complexities were beautifully portrayed in this.

R wrote: "How about a Classic? A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. I feel the whole sibling equation and its complexities were beautifully portrayed in this."

Good suggestion "R" In the same vein, another classic is Little Women.

so then we must add this one:

To Kill a Mockingbird

I just read Karen's review of The Book Thief and there is a great, funny post from Ivana where she mentions You Against Me which sounds like just the sort of book you're after.

I had absolutely no idea about Ender's Game. A reason to pull it up to the top of my to-read list!

And 'You Against Me' sounds absolutely perfect.

All of these suggestions are amazing. I'll be busy.

Some more to choose from:

Miriam Toews' The Flying Troutmans (sister-brother) and Irma Voth (sister-sister) and also A Complicated Kindness (that one more about living in a vacuum that a broken sister-sister bond leaves).

And Jesmyn Ward's Salvage The Bones (sister-brother(s))

Lovely Bone by Alice Seabold
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Great subject! John Hart's comes to mind. Although one of the siblings suffers an unfortunate fate (being careful of spoilers), the other sibling never gives up the quest to right the injustice.

Adding to the list:
From non-fantasy YA: Cynthia Voight's Tillerman Cycle (http://www.goodreads.com/series/41606...)

YA Fantasy/Horror: Jonathan Mayberry's Benny Imura series (http://www.goodreads.com/series/51137...)

Jokey gothic horror suggestion, but who knows: V.C. Andrews Dollanganger series (http://www.goodreads.com/series/42570...)

Ooh, and We have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/89...)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins! :)

You could try Three Black Swans

If my above link doesn't work--sorry, I'm on my mobile--just search Three Black Swans...the author's first name is Caroline. This one is about sist--cousins. I can't say much more, or I'll ruin the book.

Also: City of Bones (actually, the whole Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices series). There's a bunch of confusion, then it works out, then it doesn't again; it sounds tiring, but the book is great. Focuses on brother/sister relationships...and fighting rogue demons.

Mirror Dance I remembered this book in the Miles Vorkosigan series, the one where the hero discovers he has an identical twin.

Algernon wrote: "Mirror Dance I remembered this book in the Miles Vorkosigan series, the one where the hero discovers he has an identical twin."

I believe he actually discovers the clone a couple of books earlier, in Brothers in Arms.