AMBER WAS BRAVE, BESSIE WAS SMART is a great book for anyone who has a sister. And even if you don't have a sister, this book will make you wish you did. Amber and Essie are sisters, friends, confidantes and partners in survival in a struggling household where their mother has to work long hours just to make ends meet because their father did some bad things and went to jail. Amber and Essie are often left on their own and must fend for  themselves in everything from teaching themselves to fixing their own food. The girls show amazing resourcefulness in accomplishing the basic tasks, such as bargaining for groceries or doing chores around the house.
 
Through it all, they never lose their sense of childish fun, or their love for one another. Author Vera B. Williams tells this compelling tale in an equally compelling style, mixing a blend of simple sketchings and illustrations with short poems to tell the tale of Amber and Essie. This combination only makes their story more touching, and is especially effective in the ending --- which is told without words, in the form of three successive pictures.

Will Amber and Essie's family ever be reunited? Read this great new book and find out!

   --- Reviewed by Molly McVeigh