Love Ya Like A Sister: A Story of Friendship, is basically a collection of letters and e-mails from sixteen-year-old canadian Katie Ouriou to her three best friends: Ashley, Maude and Heather. Why are Katie's e-mails, and letters, important enough to create a novel out of them? Because Katie, during the beginning of a one year stay in Paris with her family, died suddenly of a rare form of cancer.

The collection of letters contained within "Love Ya Like A Sister" are an almost day by day account of Katie's life during it's last three months. They detail: The feelings she had about missing her friends; her thoughts on God and spirituality; her relationship with her family; and what it was like to move away from everything you knew to a foreign county, and then find out you're not really happy about it.

Katie was an exceptional young women, who's advice to her friends could be read and undertaken by many teenagers. Her growing self awareness in the last few months of her life is inspiring, and her wit and humor are touching. One of the nicer aspects of the novel is that although we know from that start Katie is going to die, Katie herself never knew. While reading "Love Ya Like A Sister" it is striking how many times she is forewarned of her fate. In one passage Maude writes about the possibility of Katie dying while in Paris. The conversation is basically a light hearted one, but it could make the reader's hair stand up on the back of their neck.

Katie's letters get into the heart and mind of a teenage girl better than any adult novelest possibly could. Not only would "Love Ya Like A Sister" be inspirational read for young adults but also for their parents. In fact perhaps if more parents read books like this they could relate more with their own children. And of course it almost goes without saying that this would be a great book for people dealing with a loss like Katie's friends and family are. A charming read.



Recommended: Yes