This was supposed to be a promotional post.
That was the plan.
I opened Sisters Alone by Shifa Saltagi Safadi thinking I would read a few pages to get a feel for the book before writing about it.
Thank you to the author and publisher for the book and for my honest opinions. This book tour is sponsored by Toppling Stacks Tours.
And then I couldn’t stop reading.
Seriously. A few pages turned into a few more, and before I knew it, I was completely wrapped up in Rama and Leena’s story. Safadi’s writing pulled me in almost immediately, and by the end, I was sitting there in complete awe of what she had managed to accomplish with so few words.
Because Sisters Alone is written entirely in verse.
And it is stunning.
The story follows Syrian-American sisters Rama and Leena, who are both grieving the death of their mother but handling that grief in very different ways. Rama is fiery, angry, and struggling with intrusive thoughts while feeling an enormous responsibility to hold her family together. Leena has withdrawn into herself, carrying guilt over her mother’s death and becoming quieter and more disconnected from the world around her.
Then their father has to leave for work.
When a blizzard hits, the sisters find themselves trapped alone in their rural home. What begins as an inconvenient storm quickly becomes something much more dangerous as they lose power, food, warmth, and eventually the security of their home itself.
Suddenly, these two sisters who have been struggling to reach one another emotionally have to depend on each other to survive.
And yes, you might want tissues nearby.
Actually, just keep the whole box next to you.
One of the things that absolutely amazed me about this book was how distinct Rama and Leena felt. Verse novels have fewer words to work with than traditional prose, so every word has to matter. Safadi somehow gives each sister such a unique voice that I never had trouble knowing who I was with.
More importantly, I didn’t just know who they were.
I felt who they were.
Rama’s anger, anxiety, fear, and determination come through so strongly. Leena’s grief feels quieter, but that doesn’t make it any less powerful. Their pain manifests differently, and watching those differences affect their relationship made the sisterhood at the center of this story feel incredibly real.
There is also something about the verse format that makes the emotional moments hit even harder. A handful of carefully chosen words can land with the force of an entire paragraph. Sometimes the empty space on the page feels almost as important as the words themselves.
I kept stopping to think, How did she do that?
How did Safadi make me understand this much about these girls with so few words?
That is talent.
The survival element also gives the novel a wonderful sense of urgency. You’re dealing with grief and anxiety on one level, but at the same time, there is a very real physical danger surrounding the sisters. The storm keeps escalating, which means the emotional and external stakes rise together.
But what stayed with me most wasn’t the blizzard.
It was the relationship between Rama and Leena.
At its heart, Sisters Alone is a story about two sisters who are hurting. They love each other, but grief has created distance between them. Being forced to rely on one another strips away some of those walls and reveals how desperately they both need connection.
And my heart could barely handle it.
I also really appreciated the Syrian-American and Muslim representation woven into the story. These details help build a fuller picture of the sisters, their family, and the ways they find comfort and connection. Young readers deserve books that allow them to recognize their own cultures and experiences on the page, while books like this also give other readers a chance to step into a life that might be different from their own.
This is one I would absolutely recommend for classrooms.
Teachers, librarians, and parents—put this one on your lists.
Because it is written in verse, I think it could be especially appealing for reluctant readers who might feel intimidated by a 300-plus-page novel. The pages move quickly, but the story still has tremendous emotional depth.
It would also be fantastic for an English or language arts classroom studying poetry or novels in verse. There is so much to explore here: voice, word choice, pacing, formatting, characterization, imagery, grief, anxiety, family relationships, culture, and how an author can communicate enormous emotions through very little text.
Students could learn a tremendous amount simply by looking at how Safadi creates two completely recognizable narrators.
And then, of course, there’s the fact that it’s nearly impossible to put down.
That’s always helpful when you’re trying to convince kids that reading can be exciting.
Sisters Alone surprised me in the very best way. I expected to sample it. Instead, I devoured it. I expected an interesting survival story. Instead, I found a beautiful, painful, hopeful story about sisterhood, grief, mental health, culture, and the strength we sometimes find when everything around us seems to be falling apart.
Shifa Saltagi Safadi has done something remarkable here.
Five stars doesn’t feel like enough.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Five stars all the way to the moon—and please, for the sake of your emotions, keep those tissues nearby.
About the book:
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 8, 2026
Genre: Middle Grade, Mystery/Survival
Representation: Syrian-American, Muslim, Anxiety
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — Five stars all the way to the moon!
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound
Rep: Syrian-American, Muslim, Anxiety
Synopsis:
From the National Book Award–winning author of Kareem Between comes a powerful novel in verse about two sisters trapped in a blizzard in a heart-wrenching story of sisterhood and survival.
Two sisters. One storm. A fight for their lives.
Rama is all fire—fierce, quick to anger, and trying to hold her family together while battling the monster of intrusive thoughts. Leena is all ice—quiet, numbed to the vibrancy of the world, as she silently blames herself for their mother’s death.
When their father must travel for work, a sudden blizzard traps the sisters alone at their rural home. As the storm tears through their house, they’re left without power, without food, without shelter—and with no one to rely on but each other.
Told in powerful, poetic verse, Sisters Alone is a heart-stopping story of sisterhood, survival, and the quiet strength it takes to keep going, even when the world feels like it’s falling apart.
Content Warning: death of a parent, hospitalization, medical content, hypothermia, grief, anxiety, panic attack
Meet the author:
Shifa Saltagi Safadi is the National Book Award-winning author of Kareem Between, the Amina Banana series, and several picture books, including The Gift of Eid.
Shifa was born in Syria and immigrated to the US with her parents when she was a young girl. She is a bilingual Arabic/English speaker, and is very familiar with the challenges of learning English and navigating two languages.
Shifa has a bachelor’s degree in English literature, is a former English teacher, and is a former reviewer of Muslim books on her blog, Muslim Mommy Blog.
She is passionate about spreading a love of reading to children through fun storytimes and engaging school visits.