Cousins

Author: Virginia Hamilton

First line: “You hear that?” Cammy asked Gram Tut.

Why you should read this book: Cammy hates her perfect first cousin, Patty Ann, who plays the piano, gets straight As, and sometimes sticks her finger down her throat to be skinny, but when Patty Ann insults Cammy’s beloved Grandmother, she says some things that shouldn’t be said. Now her aunt, her mother, and her brother know the whole story, and soon her third cousin, Elodie, gets caught up in the girls’ dispute. Cammy is never going to love Patty Ann, but sometimes things happen that can never be taken back, and regret starts to grow and grow within a young girl’s mind.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: You can’t remember what you argued about twenty years ago, but you know you’ll never talk to a particular family member again because you just hate them so much.