Sisters and Brothers

Siblings and their relationships propel the narrative in these nonfiction books that feature brothers and sisters. They are available to borrow from the Lititz Public Library.

Sisters First : Stories from Our Wild and Wonderful LifeSisters First: Stories from Our Wild and Wonderful Life by Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush
Born into a political dynasty, the sisters grew up in the public eye, watching their grandfather become president and just twelve years later, standing by their father when he took the same oath.

The Far Away Brothers: Two Young Migrants and the Making of an American Life by Lauren Markham
Investigative reporter presents a portrait of Central America’s child exodus through the story of twin brothers, one who got on the wrong side of El Salvador’s brutal gangs and was forced to flee the country and his twin, obliged to follow because he looked just like his brother.

The Parker Sisters: A Border Kidnapping by Lucy Maddox
In 1851, two free, black sisters living on farms in Chester County, PA, were bound, gagged and abducted for transport to a Baltimore slave pen to be sold.

The Kelloggs: The Battling Brothers of Battle Creek by Howard Markel
The saga of two brothers, one a beloved physician and the other founder of the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company, describes how their lifelong competition and enmity toward one another changed America’s notion of health and wellness.

The Sisters of Sinai : How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden GospelsThe Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden Gospels by Janet Soskice
In 1892, identical twin sisters found one of the earliest known copies of the Gospels, written in ancient Syriac, hidden in St. Catherine’s monastery at Mount Sinai.

Truevine: Two Brothers, a Kidnapping and a Mother’s Quest: A True Story of the Jim Crow South by Beth Macy
In 1899, two young sons of African American sharecroppers in the segregated south, both albino, were kidnapped by a white man and forced into the circus.

The Titled Americans: Three American Sisters and the British Aristocratic World into Which They Married by Elisabeth Kehoe
The daughters of a wealthy Wall Street speculator and his heiress wife, the three Jerome sisters were among the most glamourous women of their time and each married titled English husbands, setting a trend at a time when the British landed gentry was in need of cash.

It Takes Two by Jonathan and Drew Scott
HGTV stars share tales of their childhood and rise to fame, from their years of modeling and acting to their first house purchase at the age of eighteen.

Dear Abigail : The Intimate Lives and Revolutionary Ideas of Abigail Adams and Her Two Remarkable SistersDear Abigail: The Intimate Lives and Revolutionary Ideas of Abigail Adams and Her Two Remarkable Sisters by Diane Jacobs
The close-knit daughters of a minister and his wife relied on near constant letter writing to help them through pregnancies, illnesses, grief, political upheaval, and, for Abigail, life in the White House.

The Mathews Men: Seven Brothers and the War Against Hitler’s U-Boats by William Geroux
One family’s seven sons were among the merchant marines that carried virtually all the fuel, food and munitions that sustained the Allies in Europe during WWII, targets the US Navy refused to arm or defend until the beginning of 1943.

Jefferson’s Daughters: Three Sisters, White and Black, in Young America by Catherine Kerrison
Thomas Jefferson’s two daughters by his wife married and settled on Virginia plantations, while his daughter by slave Sally Hemings moved to Washington in 1822, forging a new life as a white woman.

A Cool and Lonely Courage : The Untold Story of Sister Spies in Occupied FranceA Cool and Lonely Courage: The Untold Stories of Sister Spies in Occupied France by Susan Ottaway
Agents for the Special Operations Executive during WWII, two sisters worked undercover to send crucial intelligence to the Allies, one narrowly evaded capture and the other was arrested, tortured and sent to the Ravensbruck concentration camp.

The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
In 1903, Wilbur, the conceptual thinker and introvert, and brother Orville, the extrovert and hands-on engineer, introduced the Wright Flyer in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the first piloted, powered, heavier-than-air machine to achieve controlled, sustained flight.

The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra by Helen Rappaport
Intelligent, sensitive and perceptive, the four Russian Grand Duchesses witnessed turmoil within their family as well as the approach of the Russian Revolution, eventually meeting their tragic end in 1918.

April 6, 2018