Super Enemies by Lois Wickstrom – Review by Tara Johnson Barnes

Super Enemies by Lois Wickstrom
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Carl and Mira are not just brother and sister, but they are also enemies. They squabble over everything, cannot agree on anything, and are constantly bickering. When their dad takes them both to the beach one day, Carl builds a sandcastle that Mira quickly destroys. Carl keeps rebuilding the sandcastle, making it better and stronger, but Mira keeps finding ways to destroy it.

This book was clearly written with the intention of showing that siblings can disagree, bicker, have different likes and dislikes and still love one another. However, the entire book was based around Mira and Carl arguing without there being any resolution and without there being any displays of affection between the two of them. I have absolutely loved other books by this author but found this one missed the mark and needed to have the story built up on a bit more.

As I was reading through, I could not help but wonder why the parents never said or did anything to discipline the children or get them to engage with one another in a more positive manner. While at the beach, Mira just comes across as a huge bully to poor Carl who only wanted to build a sandcastle. Mira did everything she could to destroy all the hard work Carl had put in to building his sandcastles. I felt terrible for poor Carl who had to rebuild time and time again because his sister was so cruel. And why did the dad not step in and stop Mira? He never tried to intervene or stop Mira from being so cruel. The dad never explained that what Mira was doing was bullying and that bullying was wrong.

The premise for the story was a good one because all siblings have arguments and will disagree. In the end the love they share for one another usually will come to the forefront. As an adult reading this I questioned why that aspect was not written into the story. I feel that the author could have added a bit more to the story and built on it just a bit more. It seemed to be missing important things that as an adult I can see and would know are wrong. As a child reading this though, it might come across differently and bullying may be perceived as being okay. Maybe I am being too critical and that certainly is not my intention. As I said earlier, I think this author is amazing and have loved other books she has written.

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