Like Sisters on the Homefront

By: Rita Williams-Garcia

Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt

Length: 5 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

Rita Williams-Garcia’s masterful and bold Coretta Scott King Honor Book is fresh, funny, and powerfully relevant. This novel by a master storyteller and Newbery Honor-winning author is about one girl’s discovery of her family history - and her own place within it.

When 14-year-old Gayle gets in trouble with a boy - again - her mother doesn’t give her a choice: Gayle is getting sent away from New York to her family down South, along with her baby, José.

In a small town in Georgia, there is nowhere to go but church, nothing to do but chores, and no friends except her goody-goody, big-boned, kneesock-wearing cousin, Cookie. Gayle is stuck cleaning up after Great, the old family matriarch who stays upstairs in her bed.

But the more she spends time with Cookie and Great, Gayle learns about her family’s history and secrets, stretching all the way back through the preachers and ancestors of the past. And slowly, the stories of her roots begin to change how Gayle sees her future.

Like Sisters on the Homefront is a fast, gritty listen about mistakes, second chances, and family. A strong choice for summer and for sparking conversation in the classroom or at home.

©2019 Rita Williams-Garcia (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers

Lived it!

This storys showed how important it is to keep your family's oral history alive. Thanks!

One of my favorite books.

I first read this book as a little girl and fell in love with it. When I got audible I decided to purchase it, and was not disappointed. The narration of the book was excellent. It transported me right back to my childhood and I got lost in the story all over again. From Gayle to Great, Cookie, Auntie and Uncle Luther. It makes you feel like apart of the story and you find yourself caring about the characters. Rita Williams-Garcia's writing does that to you. More than anything it's the lessons in the book I appreciate most. The lesson of family and what it should mean, especially African Americans. How learning or our history is such an important thing. We need to know that we come from Kings and Queens. We need to know of our ancestors who was stolen from their land and made to work the field's, and what they had to endure and how they fought to live. If only the children of today really understood their history and cared. If only there was still people who cared enough about true past to pass it on to the future, Black's would finally come together and rise up. Take back our right as the true chosen people. Well I know I will continue to learn about my ancestors and all those who came before and fought to give me the little freedoms I so enjoy now, so that I can pass it on to my future generations who will come after me..This is a great book to let your children read...and then talk with them about it so that they may understand the lessons within it.

Good listen

I really enjoyed this book, it was a great story and had an emotional pull.

Great book

Loved it .. she’s a couple tears at the end . Going to reckoned to my teenage daughter .

Still one my favorites!

I had to read this in high school (18+ yrs ago) for summer reading. And it is still a favorite of mine today! The narrator did an awesome job with it! Back in my day we didn’t have Auible lol so I had to do the voices myself but this is what I imagined the characters sounded like.

Loved It From Start To Finish ♥️!!!!I

Williams-Garcia has a way of weaving historical and contemporary fiction that is like no other! This story will make you laugh, cry and reflect... Great Read!!!

Such a Good Read

I really enjoyed the storyline, character evolvement and the narrator. I will certainly be checking out more of Ms Rita's books... even if they are intended for young teens 🤷🏾‍♀️

Not Worth The Hype

Not sure what book the others listened to or read but this was not at all a 5 star storyline. It was definitely a lesson on what not to do or how not to act for young girls, but that is about it. Gayle was a hard-headed young girl who gave her body too freely and didn't value much of anything. And her hard lessons continued right until the end when she realized that those friends and lovers she thought glittered like gold, were not soilid at all. Sadly, her troublemaking brash ways turned me off too much for me to root for her.