You Stink! I Love You

Siblings live in their own special place, a place of joy and bickering, devotion and rivalry, a place whose only currency is Truth. No euphemisms, no equivocations, no beating around the bush. Celebrating this unique relationship is You Stink! I Love You, a warm and wise book for brothers and sisters of all ages, and their often bewildered parents.

Stuart Hample, who's proven his gift for getting kids to open up in Children's Letters to God and other books, eavesdrops on siblings to discover the universal condition of being a brother or a sister. A compilation of short letters from kids ages 7-13, illustrated throughout with the author's irrepressible drawings, You Stink! I Love You presents brothers and sisters telling it just the way it is.

Here are honest appraisals: My sister Jenny thinks she's God. Boy is she wrong!-Alison.

Hard-won caveats: Sometimes if I'm alone I kneel down and say: "God, I would love to have a sister I could share lots of things and lots of secrets with." Unfortunately, I have a brother.-Ellie.

Proud tributes: I have a sister named Gisell. I guess she's okay but I'm not sure because she can't talk yet.-Luis.

Pithy observations: Jonathan A. is a psycho.-Moira A.

And the pure paradox that makes the sibling relationship different from any other: My sister does everything with me, so sometimes I get sick of her and we fight a lot. But since we do everything together, it wouldn't be the same without her.-Millie.

What sibling doesn't know exactly what she means?