Then I Met My Sister

March 1, 2011

A rebellious 17-year-old resents her long-dead sister in this sensitive and engaging family drama. Summer knows she's smart, but she almost deliberately earns Cs in school to prove that she's not the same as Shannon, her apparently perfect honor-student sister, who was killed in a car accident the year before Summer was born. Additionally, Summer resents her control-freak mother, who constantly seems to compare the two girls and who has built a household shrine to her dead daughter. When her aunt gives her Shannon's diary, however, Summer gains a whole new perspective on herself and on her relatives, learning that Shannon resented their mother just as much as she does and also seriously rebelled against her. Indeed, Shannon confronted a problem Summer didn't think possible in her family. The most pressing question for Summer, however, will be to discover if Shannon committed suicide. Deriso illuminates a complex family that, despite the faults of every member, emerges as strong and loving. As Summer reads Shannon's diary, readers see two similar girls making different choices, especially in friends and boyfriends. The continuing diary entries create an element of suspense, as readers know the fate of the girl who wrote it. Despite their similarity, the characters of the two girls remain distinct. An absorbing story teens will connect with. (Fiction. 12 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

April 1, 2011

Gr 8 Up-Shannon died in a car accident before Summer was born, but Summer feels as if she has never measured up to the perfect and overachieving image of her sibling. A gift from her Aunt Nic for her 17th birthday, Shannon's secret diary from the last year of her life, provides Summer the opportunity to get to know her sister and reveals a few uncomfortable truths about her family along the way. Guided by the insight and honesty of her (more than) best friend, Gibson, Summer is able to reevaluate her sometimes-judgmental and unfair analysis of her family. Excerpts from Shannon's journal reveal that she wasn't always the picture-perfect person Summer believed her to be, and in fact show that despite Summer's C average, she understands a lot more about the way the world works than Shannon did. The journey Summer goes on to "meet" her sister is compelling, but equally interesting are her discoveries about herself and her relationships, especially her budding romance with Gibs. Not just your average story of self-acceptance, this is a book intriguing enough to read in one sitting.-Amy Commers, South St. Paul Public Library, MN

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2011
Grades 8-10 Summer is the lesser sister. Shannon, who died before Summer was born, was seemingly perfect: great grades, hard worker, never rebelled. When Summers aunt gives her a copy of the diary Shannon wrote the summer before her senior year, Summer finds out surprising things about her lost sister and distant parents. Summer is insecure and unconvinced of her own merits, but as the real Shannon is revealedthe diary entries carefully never tell more than would have naturally been written in themreaders see what Summers gentle romantic interest, Gibson, already knows: that she is, in many ways, the bravest and smartest member of her family. By the end of this fast read, Summer has matured in a way that is both believable and easy to identify with. Her tame rebellions and uncomplicated frustrations with her parents will be enjoyed by fans of Sarah Dessen and girls who want a realistic drama, a bit of romance, and not an overload of angst.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)