A guest review from Teen Room Staff Marisa!

After Lennie's older sister Bailey dies unexpectedly, Lennie turns to Bailey's boyfriend Toby, who seems to be the only one who understands what she's going through. A new boy, Joe, is a talented musician like Lennie and wants to figure her out. Over the course of the book, Lennie learns secrets about her sister, her grandmother, and her mother, who abandoned them years ago. Lennie tries to cope with the loss of her sister and the person she has become since her sister's death. Most chapters begin with a small poem written by Lennie on a tree, to-go cup, or scrap of paper. These poems are lyrical and an insight into Lennie's memories of her sister. Bailey appears in the novel only in flashbacks and Lennie's poems, but you feel like you are acquainted with her.

All of the characters in the novel, from Lennie's grandmother, who believes that a specific houseplant's health corresponds to Lennie's, and her crazy uncle, who's been married five times, are three-dimensional, making the story believable. Parts of it made me smile, and others made me want to cry. When I finished, I wanted to read it all over again.

--Marisa