Sophie Cameron’s Favourite Siblings in YA – Last Bus to Everland Blog Tour

At the beginning of the month, after reading about it on the lovely Lois’ blog, I picked up Last Bus to Everland by Sophie Cameron (huge thanks to my friend Luchia for the copy too). I don’t read much YA contemporary but this sounded so good and I just had to read it. I devoured this book in four days and absolutely fell in love, so I’m super excited to be taking part in the Last Bus to Everland blog tour this week. Today’s post is piece written by Sophie herself, where we hear all about her favourite siblings in YA. Keep reading to pick up some fab recommendations and look out for my review of this wonderful book coming on the 20th!

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“As the oldest of four children, sibling relationships are an aspect of fiction that has always been of interest to me. There are so many elements that can determine our relationship with our siblings: age, interests, parental relationships, even social status. A good sibling relationship can be amongst the most important a person will ever have; a bad one can make life totally miserable, at least while you’re living together.

In my second novel, Last Bus to Everland, I wanted to explore how academic ability and differences in opportunities can affect sibling relationships. 15-year-old Brody is a middle child, overshadowed by his genius older brother and extroverted younger sister. His relationship with Jake is particularly complicated: Jake’s high intellect has earned him a scholarship to a private school and he’s aiming to go to Cambridge, while Brody is struggling academically and doesn’t know what to do with his life. However, Jake has his own issues, too, and Brody soon comes to realise they have more in common than he realised.

And as a category of literature dealing focusing on the teenage years, YA fiction is full of interesting sibling dynamics. Here are a few of my favourites:

YOU’LL MISS ME WHEN I’M GONE by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Having drifted apart a few years ago, 18-year-old twin sisters Adina and Tovah have little in common except for their fierce ambition. Their relationship is placed under further strain when they’re tested for a rare genetic disease: one of the girls tests positive, the other negative.

LITTLE & LION by Brandy Colbert
A great depiction of a blended family in YA fiction, Little & Lion focuses on the close but complicated relationship between Suzette and her stepbrother, Lionel, as he comes off his medication for bipolar disorder and begins dating a girl… the same girl that Suzette is into.

SALT by Hannah Moskowitz
Set all across the Mediterranean, Salt tells the story of four orphaned siblings who have grown up fighting sea monsters. While most of the family are happy with their dangerous, nomadic life, 17-year-old Indi is desperate to settle and eventually has to choose. 

TROUBLEMAKERS by Catherine Barter
15-year-old Alena’s activist mother died when she was a baby, and her older brother Danny (along with his boyfriend, Nick) has become her parent as well as a sibling. The whole family are put under strain when Alena becomes embroiled in a political scandal including Danny’s boss.

THE HATE U GIVE by Angie Thomas
The Carter family is one of my favourites in YA, and I loved the relationship between protagonist Starr, her younger brother Sekani, and her older half-brother, Seven, who also have two half-sisters on his mum’s side. There are some family tensions (and some good-natured sibling bickering) but the warmth and love they have for each other oozes off the page.”  

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Thank you so much to Sophie for writing this guest post as part of the Last Bus to Everland blog tour. I’ve definitely added several more books to my TBR after reading this! I loved Last Bus to Everland and I’ll be posting my full spoiler free review this coming Thursday so definitely keep an eye out for that too, and make sure to check out the rest of the stops on the tour below.