Like Sisters on the Homefront
by Rita Williams-Garcia
1996 Coretta Scott King Honor Book
An ALA Quick Pick
Booklist Editors' Choice
School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year

Website composed by:
Gail Hildenbrand                Julie Kasakitis               Pat Nock               Melanie Windsor                 Jan Weisner


Book Talk
    Like Sisters on the Homefont is a modern piece of young adult literature that explores contemporary issues that today's youth must face.  The novel is a coming-of age story of a 14 year old girl living in New York city, named Gayle Whitaker.  At the opening of the book, Gayle is already the mother of a 7 month old son, and she is pregnant once again.  None of this seems to phase Gayle, and she acts rude and unemotional to every extent possible.  After getting her an abortion, Gayle's mother decides to send her "home" to Georgia to live with her minister uncle and his family, including his 16 year old church-going daughter Cookie. Gayle and Cookie are opposites in every way, and Gayle is miserable from the moment she arrives in Georgia.  Gayle despises the decision her mother has made, and the only bearable part of her new life in Georgia is her great-grandmother, lovingly referred to as "Great".  Slowly, Gayle begins to make a connection with Great, and her cousin Cookie. By the end of the story, Gayle has learned about self-worth, friendship, and the unconditional love of family.  She has grown from an angry girl into a more mature young woman.


 
 

Author Study

         Rita Williams-Garcia, author of Like Sisters on the Homefront, was born in Queens, New York in the late 1950’s.  Because her father was in the military her family traveled to Seaside, California.  Ms. Williams-Garcia says that she learned to read at the age of two and had read almost all of Dr. Seuss’ and Bennett Serfs books by the time she started school.  She dates her writing career from the age of four when she was making up rhymes and adventure stories about her sister, her brother, and herself.
          When she was 12, her family moved to Jamaica, New York, where she was “thrown into culture shock.  I was a proud little nerd with my hands clasped on my desk ready to rocket in the air when the teacher asked a question. My classmates wanted to kill me.”  Her reading list included Angela Davis, Booby Seale, Huey Newton, Nikki Giovanni, Shakespeare, Salinger, S.E. Hinton and Ayn Rand.  During her adolescence she was also writing about 1,000 words a day.
          She went to Hofstra University where she majored in Economics, eventually switching to Liberal Arts .  In her last year she took a fiction workshop with Richard Price and Sonia Pilcer and began to write again. She was also involved with a community outreach literacy program, where she tutored four high school girls who read below fourth grade level.   “Amazed by the lack of relevant young adult novels that could speak to these girls, I began writing dialogue stealing bits and pieces from their conversations. These pieces were worked out in my writing workshop and became the first draft for Blue Tights."
         Following graduation she worked for a marketing company while continuing to write.  Her first manuscript, Blue Tights was rejected by editors with comments that the character was not a good role model for Black girls.  She married, had a child, and in the 1980’s tried again with Blue Tights.  By finding a publisher who was interested in realistic portrayal of adolescence, and an editor willing to work with her, her first book was finally published.  Her second book, Fast Talk on a Slow Track followed.  Published in 1994, Like Sisters on the Homefront took her five years to write, during which time she had a second child and went back to school for an MA in Creative Writing.  Her fourth novel, Every Time  Rainbow Dies, is currently a work in progress.
 

Classroom Connections
We do not recommend using this book in a classroom due to its graphic sexual language and adult topics. However, if you choose to use it in a classroom of very mature students, the following activities may be helpful for the classroom teacher:

Social Studies:

    In this story, Great passes on the family history to Gayle. Have the students in your class research their family history and background. Have them create a family tree on poster board and then have them share their family history in some sort of creative way to the class.

    During the story, Gayle travels from New York to Georgia. Have your students map this journey and find out how long it would take Gayle to travel if she flew, drove, rode a train, or walked that distance.

Math:

    Gayle is an unwed mother of 14 and is faced with having to save her money in order to buy baby supplies. Have your students research how much it would cost them to raise a baby today for one whole month. Students can use newspaper ads for grocery stores, websites, and other information available to find out the costs of the various supplies and necessities. The list must include the following: (See the webquest for more on this activity.)
    Baby food: 6 jars a day              Clothing: 10 separate outfits including shoes and socks
    Formula:  6 bottles a day            Crib, stroller, playpen, highchair, car seat, toys, blankets, etc.
    Diapers and wipes:  8 a day        Daycare/baby sitter while you are in schoool/work
    Medicine/Doctor visits

Language Arts:

    Have the students make a Venn diagram comparing two opposite characters in the story. For example, use Gayle and Cookie or Gayle and Great. Show how these two characters are alike and different.

    During the story, Gayle went through many changes. Have your student fill in a character map of Gayle's growth and changes throughout the story.

    Have your students keep a journal while reading the story. This will allow them to discuss anything that they don't understand as a group in class. Also, the students could write as if they were one of the characters (such as Gayle, Uncle Luther, or Cookie). This will help them better understand the story and how the characters feel.
 

List of Related Books

Books written or with contributing parts by Rita Williams-Garcia:


Related books on teenage angst and their problems:

Slam!  by Walter Dean Myers. (1998) Scholastic Paperbacks.
Probably Still Nick Swanson: A Novel  by Virginia Euwer Wolff. (1997) Scholastic Paperbacks.
From the Notebooks of Melanie Sun   by Jacqueline Woodson (1995) Scholastic Paperbacks.
I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This  by Jacqueline Woodson (1995) Laurel-Leaf.
Forever....    by Judy Blume (1996) Pocket Books.
Bad   by Jean Ferris (1998) Rarrar, Straus & Giroux.
Shark Bait  by Graham Salisbury (1997)  Laurel-Leaf.
Heaven   by Angela Johnson (1998) Simon & Schuster.
Geeks   by Jon Katz (2000) Villard Books.
Slot Machine   by Chris Lynch (1996) Harper Trophy.
Attack of the Zit Monster and Other Teenage Terrors!   by Randy Glasbergen (1996) Intervarsity Press.
The Great Brain Robbery   by Tom Scott (1997) Recovery Works Publishing.



Web activity
    Like Sisters on the Homefront discusses many different topics of child raising.  One item that the book neglects to discuss is the financial burden of raising a child.   Have you ever wondered how much money it costs to raise a child?  On a piece of paper write down all of the things that a child would need that will cost  money.  Estimate how much you think each of the items will cost you.  How much do you think it will cost to raise a child for the complete 18 years?  Now      go to the following site:
http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/homeec/cba28s02.html
     Take a look at some of the things that a child needs and what the cost of each thing is.  How close were your estimates tothe actual estimated costs of each of the items?  After looking at the money involved in raising a child, do you feel any different about having kids in the future?  After seeing these figures, have your views changed about young teens being able to support a child? Do you think teens could really afford all of these costs?

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