Thirteen-year-old Sissy's mother always said that Sissy's sixteen-year-old sister marched to the beat of a different drummer. But it isn't until Br...
read full description
reviews
Dec 24, 2009
vcheung
rated it: 
I'm a big fan of Lurlene McDaniel's writing, but this was just disappointing. There is a bit of a repetitive pattern to her books, but her writing usually creative enough to make the stories enjoyable. While the plot for this story did seem a bit different from her usual work, the writing was absolutely atrocious. I found the book rather difficult to read. I initially thought this was one of her earlier, older works, so I forgave her for the lackluster writing only to find this is actually a fai
More...
Nov 22, 2009
Ella
rated it: 
Thirteen-year-old Sissy’s mother said that Sissy’s sixteen-year-old sister had a mind of her own. When running off with her “perfect” boyfriend, getting married, and ending up pregnant with an illness. This wasn’t the life that her mother wanted her to have. Sissy needs to grow up faster to be able to take care of her older sister and her mother who is just about done with the nonsense.
While reading this book I notice a text to world connection. Many girls like Briana had gotten pre More...
While reading this book I notice a text to world connection. Many girls like Briana had gotten pre More...
Apr 12, 2009
Maryelin
rated it:
In the book Briana's gift Casey's sister Briana leaves the house to be with her boyfriend and a year later she comes back home crying cause her boyfriend dumped her and she was pregnant. The story is mostly about how Casey helps her sister but her sister gets sick at her job and at the hospital they tell her that one of her brain veins popped and Brianna has a machine breathing for her so the baby could still have a chance of living. I liked this book because even though it was sad it still wasn
More...
Jun 12, 2010
Rob
rated it:
Casey lives with her mother and her sister, Brianna, who according to mother "marches to the beat of a different drummer." Brianna runs away from home, only to come home a few months later. Pregnant. The mother tries to help her daughter think through the decisions she'll have to make in the near future, and things get complicated. Everybody is profoundly impacted, and lives are changed.
I felt like there was a lot of fluff in this novel. The narrator, a young girl, is v More...
I felt like there was a lot of fluff in this novel. The narrator, a young girl, is v More...
Apr 27, 2010
$hanel
rated it:
13 year old Susanna and her 17 year old sister named Briana (but her Mum and her call her Bree for short) have been trying to get over the fact that their father is dead. Briana is the one who can grow up and move on. Briana leaves the house in Tenessee so she can go with her boyfriend Jerry Stevens to L.A. where they plan to get married and find jobs together. When Briana comes home about 8 months later she has a surprise for Susanna and her Mum. The surprise brings a lot of pressure to the sma
More...
Jan 05, 2012
Kimberly
rated it: 
3.5 Stars
First off let me say that this really wasn't my favourite book by Lurlene Mcdaniel at all but I did like it. I liked it because this book while not being her strongest work in my opinion it is written in the usual way most of her older books were written in being from a first person point of view.
I liked Sissy though I hated her name but I found her mother to be an irritating woman who just because her one teenage daughter (Briana) got pregnant it was as if she More...
First off let me say that this really wasn't my favourite book by Lurlene Mcdaniel at all but I did like it. I liked it because this book while not being her strongest work in my opinion it is written in the usual way most of her older books were written in being from a first person point of view.
I liked Sissy though I hated her name but I found her mother to be an irritating woman who just because her one teenage daughter (Briana) got pregnant it was as if she More...
Nov 07, 2007
Miss Kitty
rated it:
Gosh, I do love me some Lurlene McDaniel. Ever since I first read copies of The Secret Life of Steffie Martin and Will I Ever Dance Again? that I got from the school book fair in the third or fourth grade I’ve been an addict. Having said all that, I think that Lurlene is kinda sappy. Actually, not kinda but for reals sappy. But I get the feeling she doesn’t really care what I think. So I’ll just review this book.
There’s this teenager girl named Briana, see? And she has this wicked pencha More...
There’s this teenager girl named Briana, see? And she has this wicked pencha More...
Dec 22, 2010
Brianna
rated it:
In this book Briana runs off to California when she was 16. When she returned she announces she is pregnant. Her and her family don't know what to do. Her decisions have to come to a hault when she collapses working in Walmart. The doctors don't know what they will be able to do. I would recommend this book to any girl because it shows you something that could actually happen in real life, and some consequences that follow!
Feb 04, 2011
Heidi
rated it:
An inspirational novel sure to be a hit with teen girls. Sissy, 13, misses her older sister Briana who ran off with her boyfriend. She returns home pregnant and is welcomed home. Tragedy follows but hope is an underlying theme. A quick read with a satisfying conclusion.
Jan 24, 2011
This book is amazing. I just wanted a quick read for after skiing so i chose this one. As soon as i started it, I could not put it down. Lurlene McDaniel is a fantastic author especially if you like sad books that are extremely well written.
Sep 04, 2010
Jojo
rated it: 
I have read this book when I was 9, I am now 14 and I still like it. I have now read bigger and better books, but I will always love this story. the story is heart felt and sad with a good plot, but the ending is predictable and simple.
Sep 06, 2010
Anna
rated it:
Such a cute/sweet read, it was short but it was memorable, I can promise you that. The love between the two sisters really tugs at your heart and makes you wonder what you would do in Sissy's shoes.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Dec 12, 2008
alyssa
rated it:
did not like it. her books is always the same background. need to change it up a bit. change the settings or something intersting, mysterious.
Dec 01, 2008
Shannon
rated it:
This book was great. Lurlene McDaniels writes a lot about sad stories and death. I was actually surprised when one of the characters passed!
Mar 31, 2009
Marissa
rated it:
This was a really good book, I couldn't put it down when I was reading it! It is a book that everyone needs to read!!
Aug 31, 2011
Erica
rated it:
This book was absolutely heart-warming. I felt like I was there with them all, feeling what they feel.
Nov 13, 2007
Rebecca H.
rated it:
This book starts off with a prenant teen, briana, and her sister, sissy. Sissy is having all these mixed feelings with her best friend and feels like her life is just so complicated. But, after Briana suffers an accident, suddenly her life gets alot more complicated
Dec 17, 2009
Breana leaves behind a woundeful gift her mother and sister. She give her daught the love she needs. After grieving over Breanna They new they would always have a part of her in the child she had
Aug 24, 2008
Devon
rated it:
Briana's Gift is really boring. I thought it was Lurlene's worst so far. But it had a great moral though. Kind of a cheesy "everything's working out perfectly" ending.
Aug 08, 2008
Caroline
rated it:
A sappy story about a brain aneurism. Who would name their kid after Christmas? And honestly, this is just a Stupid book.
