Vanishing Girls

Starred review from January 12, 2015
Sisters Dara and Nick had grown up as “the Two Musketeers, the Dynamic Duo, Light and Dark, two sides of the same cookie,” but after a serious car accident, the two sisters are irrevocably distanced. As older, more reliable sister Nick tries to find her way back into Dara’s graces, their strained relationship, the boy who came between them, and the sudden disappearance of a nine-year-old girl bring secrets of a local underworld too close to home. The novel alternates between the sisters’ perspectives, both before and after the accident, while news reports, diaries, and blog posts and comments from the community create a narrative full of shades of grey. Oliver (Panic) is in top form in this psychological family drama that investigates the complicated nature of sisterhood. Perfect for readers who devoured We Were Liars, it’s the sort of novel that readers will race to finish, then return to the beginning to marvel at how it was constructed—and at everything they missed. Ages 14–up. Agent: Stephen Barbara, InkWell Management.