Sisters, Long Ago

by Peg Kehret

After nearly drowning in Pinecone Lake, thirteen-year-old Willow begins experiencing strange visions that lead her to believe that she led a former life in Egypt. By the author of Nightmare Mountain. Reprint.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, Time Travel, Historical Fiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Peg Kehret writes middle grade fiction and nonfiction. She's won dozens of state children's choice awards, where kids vote for their favorite book.

When she was twelve, Peg was paralyzed with polio. Most of her protagonists are the age she was then.

A volunteer with animal rescue groups, three of Peg's books are co-authored by Pete the Cat."

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought Sisters, Long Ago at a school book fair when I was a kid (for the low, low early 90s price of $3.50), and proceeded to read it half a dozen times. It was the first book I ever encountered about a U.S. teen exploring religions outside Christianity. Granted, that exploration is presented in a somewhat idealized/fantasy context, but still--it made a really big impression on my nine year-old self.

The story begins when Willow, a WASPy blonde high schooler, almost drowns at the lake on her sixteenth birthday. Just before Willow is rescued, she has a vision of an experience from another lifetime. The book follows Willow as she tries to learn more about reincarnation, struggles with having different ideas about spirituality than her very, very Christian best friend, and struggles with her sister's terminal illness.

Rereading it as an adult, I still appreciate how Kehret creates a safe space in her book for religious exploration. I also realized that I have Kehret to thank for my habit of taking notes on everything--when I got to the part where Willow attends a reincarnation workshop and writes down key phrases in a notepad, I suddenly remembered sitting in 5th or 6th grade classes taking notes and subconsciously thinking something along the lines of, "I'd better take good notes in case this somehow turns out to be relevant to an ancient Egyptian reincarnation adventure." So way to go to Kehret for modeling the idea that learning is fun. Finally, I was impressed by how condensed the action was. She may skimp on setting, but Kehret can put her characters through a lot of interesting events in a convincing way with an unbelievably small amount of words, which makes for good middle school reading.

Fun 90s flashbacks:
1. "I looked them up in my encyclopedia."
2. Referring to the main character's mom as "Mrs. Paige" rather than "Willow's Mom."
3. "Hunk alert!"

Another YA novel with similar themes of religious universalism, the past colliding with the present, and "Holy smokes, isn't ancient Egypt cool?!" that I also enjoyed around the same age was The Reluctant God, by Pamela F. Service.

[Lynn Spinks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh. My. Gosh. I loved this book .Yes, it was a million years ago but holy cow!! Peg Kehret wrote a bunch of books that completely captivated me when I was younger! I even met her once at a book store and definatly still have the picture from the day. All I can say is she will not disappoint you, especially in this book. It may seem juvenile to some of my older friends but I say who cares?! Pick up a copy of this book and just let yourself live it :)

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a GREAT!!!!!!!!! book by Peg Kehret. It is about a girl who thinks she nows what her past life was. i LOVE this book.

[kayepants · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know if this book is actually as good as I thought it was when I was 12, but I intend to find a copy and re-read it.

[Kyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when I was about 10 years old. It was about reincarnation. That was my first real experience thinking about what could come after life.

[Shawna Finnigan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I waited so long to review this book because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to write an in depth review on it or not, but I’ve decided I wanted to spill my thoughts on it.

I read this book for FaeCrate’s TBR readathon for the prompt “Starts with ‘S.’”

This book was very different than I thought it would be, but not in a good way. The story follows a girl named Willow who almost drowned, but as she was starting to drown, she saw a glimpse into her past life. This lead her to try to figure out what the glimpse meant and to learn more about past lives in general.

Though the idea of the story seemed interesting, I had some major issues with this book.

The first one being that I didn’t understand why she began on this journey of finding out more about her past life. If there were more descriptions of how the glimpse haunted her or more moments where she woke up in the middle of the night after dreaming about it, her dedication to finding out about her past life would make sense.

Another major issue I had was, how come she knew what the person in her past life was saying except for one phrase? Like for the whole book, the person in her past life spoke English except for one phrase...

My last major issue with this book is Willow’s neighbor. I hated her guts and I had no clue why her story line was included in the story. It didn’t effect the main plot at all and the book was so short that her side plot didn’t make sense to me?

I did really the Leukemia representation in this book though. This is a kid’s book and I think it’s important to represent disabilities, cancer, and illness in kid’s books, so kudos to the author for weaving Leukemia into the story.

[James Crawford · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is about a girl named Willow who has dreams of being a girl named Kalos at some time in the past. She eventually manages to figure out that Kalos lived in ancient Egypt. The entire novel consists of Willow's trying to learn what she has been dreaming of and experiencing, and learning more and more about the subject of reincarnation.

Which is what the real theme of the book is, more so than the theme of Willow trying to find out what is behind her dreams and visions. The book spends far too much time going over reincarnation and its facets and people's reactions to it. There's too little of the story in the story, and too much semi-academic examination of the topic of reincarnation. It makes the book boring. There should have been some other way to tone down the examination of the topic of reincarnation, and spend more time on Willow and what she was going through.

A book to read only if you are out of any others.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book at a Scholastic Book Fair, though I gave it away at some point since. I was attracted to the Egyptian princess on the cover, but the story wasn't what I expected. The protagonist girl comes to believe she is experiencing memories from a past life and goes in search of information about reincarnation. I remember her brother dies of leukemia in the present day story. Anyways, it wasn't for me.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is by my favorite author... I've read so many of her books!!!!!!

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another one I read as a kid and has stayed with me...can you tell I love anything about ancient Egypt!

[Misty · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved this book.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is soo exciting! It's about a girl named Willow and thnks that she has a different life in a diffrent part of the world.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite books in elementary school!

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book when I was younger! I always wished I had a cool second life like that.

[Kristi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was probably one of the first books that I read for pleasure as a child and I really didn't read much when I was younger. I remember it sparking an interest in Egypt and reincarnation.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this as a kid and loved it! I should read it again someday.

[Black Bones · Rating 1 out of 5]

the whole plot is based on re-incarnation of a teenage girl called Willow and recalling her past memories.

[Raygun ∆ Gothic · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite books as a kid in the 90s!!!

[Natasha Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as a child and for a few years now, I have found myself thinking about the story while not being able to remember the title, the author, or much about the plot except there were two girls, possibly sisters, both from a different time. I remembered something about them being able to communicate through a body of water, but it was the illustration on the cover that I must have been remembering from childhood.

Today I posted on a group forum with the little bit of information I had about this book in hopes someone out there would know which book I was referring to, and sure enough within an hour, someone was able to identify the book for me. Right away I purchased a used copy on Ebay so I will never lose it again. I cannot wait to delve back into the pages of this story 30 years later.

[Deanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book decades ago, in my youth, and still enjoyed re-reading it in 2024. “Sisters, Long Ago” was my first introduction to reincarnation, and the belief that maybe we all have lived more than one lifetime. It’s a concept that has continued to interest me through out my life, as well as Ancient Egypt has also intrigued me.
I am thankful to this book for opening my mind, all those many years ago.

[Nasreen Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my favorite book when I was 13-14. I still have the same copy. Kinda falling apart tho. I may read it again before I actually donate it. Been taking it in or out of my donation box lol

It’s not for everyone. It has certain elements that I like.

[Zoelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was ok I don't really like it much. It wasn't the best book.

[Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in middle school and through the magic of Novelist was able to find the title 25 years later. I really enjoyed my reread.

[Skye · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my childhood favorites! Introduced reincarnation to me at a young age, which I really resignated with which led to further research into the subject

[Jeraline Everdeen :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this book though I wish it was longer so we got more flashbacks with Kalos and Tiy .

[Sydney · Rating 1 out of 5]

i read this when i was little and loved it, now i'm an old crow and this is definitely for 7 year olds.

[Kaitlyn Melton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first chapter book I ever read and it IS the book that got me into reading.

[Kimberly Kay · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this as a young girl, I couldn’t get into it and I don’t believe in reincarnation.

[Unique Chimera · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have no idea when I read this book but despite having a messy concept it kinda fucks