Some novel advice for those suffering through sibling rivalry

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SOME NOVEL ADVICE FOR THOSE SUFFERING THROUGH SIBLING RIVALRY

June 26, 1995

How to Get Rid of Your Older Brother Author: Joel L. Schwartz. Publisher: Dell Publishing. Price: $3.25 (paperback). Pages: 120.

Have you ever had problems with a bullying older brother or sister? If you have, this book is perfect for you!

How to Get Rid of Your Older Brother is a humorous story of two feuding brothers, Louis, a ninth-grader, and his younger brother Jay - called "Kipper" - a seventh-grader. This book is a typical example of the relationship between a younger and older brother with a sometimes-up-usually-down friendship.

As their long-lasting rivalry continues, they gather their friends in their separate corners for an all-out war with pretty surprising results.

When my older brother, Louis, was three and I was one and a half, he told my parents he wanted to trade me in for a dog. Why he wanted to get rid of the best younger brother an older brother could have is beyond me, but that's what Louis wanted to do.

Since getting rid of me was not possible, he did the next best thing. He started ordering me around and calling me Kipper, after the Irish setter that lived around the corner from us. By the time I found out I was named for a dog, everyone was so used to calling me Kipper there was no way I could change it.

This book is 120 pages of fun and laughter for the reader and is well worth the price of $3.25. It gives wonderful, helpful tips on getting the upper hand in many different situations concerning the bullying older brother.

For instance, those times when you want to borrow his gray and maroon football jersey, and he tackles you and gives you a giant noogie. What do you do? How about putting tape in the middle of the shower nozzle, so when he turns it on to warm it up, he gets an unexpected surprise. Humorous scenes such as this one take place throughout the terrifically written book.

And if you do fight with your family members all the time, you miss out on a lot of stuff, like borrowing clothes and money.

I recommend this book for kids ages 11 through 16. But please remember that although this book may have some helpful hints about revenge on the older brother/sister, it is fiction. So don't try all of these things at home.

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