Sister by Eloise Greenfield

First published: 1974; illustrated

Type of work: Domestic realism

Themes: Family, emotions, love, and coming-of-age

Time of work: The 1970’s

Recommended Ages: 10-13

Locale: Suburban America

Principal Characters:

• Doretha Freeman, thirteen, who is the narrator for most of the story
• Alberta Freeman, sixteen, Doretha’s sister
• Thelma Freeman, Doretha and Alberta’s mother, who becomes a widow when Doretha is ten years old
• Clemont Freeman, Doretha’s father

The Story

Sister begins when Doretha is thirteen, eagerly awaiting a concert by Lonnie and the Liberations. Doretha and her friend Shirl attend the concert, and both girls leave the show mesmerized. Upon returning home, Doretha finds that her sister Alberta is again out late, her whereabouts unknown. Doretha’s mother Thelma expresses her worry that Alberta could possibly be lying somewhere dead. Doretha tries to convince her mother that Alberta will return unharmed, as she always does. Doretha retires to her room and opens her journal, which she calls her “Doretha Book.” She plans to write about the concert but instead starts reading the pages she has written over the past four years. She makes a bet with herself: Alberta will be home by the time she is finished reviewing the diary.

The first scene from the diary recalls a nine-year-old Doretha with a broken ankle, sulking in the family’s living room. Her father comes home from work and is determined to raise her spirits. He brings out a cardboard box containing high school memorabilia. Doretha is fascinated and asks him if she can keep a worn notebook, most of which is unused. This notebook later becomes her diary.

The next memory Doretha has recorded is that of her father’s death. Relatives, neighbors, and friends have gathered for Clemont’s annual birthday picnic. After an enthusiastic rendition of “Happy Birthday to You,” Clemont laughs. His laugh contorts his face, he drops his paper plate, and he beats a fist against his chest. He then falls face forward into the dirt. Doretha remembers her uncle turning her father over onto his back, and she remembers seeing the unblinking eyes stare directly at the sun. She is shocked that she and the others had been so happy just moments before, and now her father is dead, taken away in an ambulance.

An observant ten-year-old Doretha notices many changes in her sister after Clemont’s death. While her mother plays a sad song on the piano to express grief, her sister seems to withdraw from the family and stays out of the house more often, wandering the streets with friends. Her mother takes a job at a towel laundry, and Doretha feels even more lonely than she ever remembers. One night before going to sleep, she promises her sister Alberta that she will never leave her. Alberta is obviously awake but makes no response to Doretha’s pledge.

Doretha visits with her maternal grandfather, who tells her that people must laugh even when life seems painful. Doretha applies her grandfather’s theory to Alberta’s actions and believes that she can better understand what Alberta is experiencing. Doretha even emulates Alberta in an argument with a substitute teacher at school. She screams at the teacher and then coolly saunters back to her seat.

When Doretha is twelve, her mother appears to be seriously involved with a man named Turner, whom she has been dating. As Thelma readies herself for a date one evening, Turner’s wife telephones, and a shocked Doretha speaks with the woman. Turner never calls or appears that evening. Doretha and Alberta sit on the sofa with their mother, comforting her as she cries and laments the loss of Clemont.

At thirteen, Doretha becomes interested in African heritage and joins a group that studies and teaches the culture. Doretha also tries to assist Alberta, who is involved in a violent fight with another girl. After the fight and a visit to the hospital, Alberta leaves home with bags packed, explaining to Doretha that she chooses to laugh at everything so that no one hurts her feelings. Doretha knows that it will be her responsibility to comfort her mother after Alberta’s departure. For a brief moment, she wishes she could also leave. Alberta’s independent life lasts only three days. She returns and Doretha notices that her sister looks tired and sad. This episode brings Doretha to the end of her diary, and Alberta has not yet come home. Doretha realizes that the memories she has just relived have molded her into the person she has become. She has gained strength, and she vows to share that strength with her sister.

Context

Eloise Greenfield states that her goal in writing is “to give children words to love, to grow on.” The novel Sister, which depicts the endless trials and small joys of everyday family life, seems aligned with that goal. Her novel Talk About a Family (1978) is another work with a similar focus.

Greenfield has been an active member of the Washington, D.C., Black Writers Workshop for many years, working with both the adult fiction and children’s literature divisions. Much of Greenfield’s writing focuses on the experiences of blacks, especially black children, but her works speak to young readers of all races and ethnic backgrounds. Sister examines the ordeals one black family faces, but the issues of death, grief, and adolescence are issues which must be faced by everyone. Greenfield adds elements of African heritage and culture to the story, to remind her young black readers that there is an extended, worldwide family to which they belong. The elements of African culture in the story also distinguish Sister from other young adult novels similar in subject matter and theme.

Greenfield’s writing has been described as sensitive, and Sister is no exception. The book’s simplicity is deceptive, however, for behind the simplicity is truth. Adolescence brings with it many conflicting emotions, and in Doretha’s case, adolescence carries additional burdens. As an author, Greenfield has a gift for making life both dramatic and realistic at the same time. She creates believable situations and identifiable characters. Sister is a novel about growing up in the modern world. It is a novel for all young people; not only blacks, and not only teenage girls. It pinpoints emotions common to everyone.