Starred review from February 22, 2010
When Lennie's older sister dies suddenly, she is devastated, but she also starts realizing she no longer has to be the “companion pony” to the “thoroughbred” that was her dazzling sister. Living her own life proves difficult, however, both because it “doesn't seem right that anything good should come out of Bailey's death” and because of complications that arise when she falls in love with a talented musician in the school band. This honest, complex debut is distinguished by a dreamy California setting and poetic images that will draw readers into Lennie's world, particularly in the notes Lennie writes about life with her sister on bits of paper and even trees (“I button one of her frilly shirts/ over my own T-shirt./ ....I always feel better then,/ like she's holding me”). The author perhaps creates a few too many vibrant characters and plot points (Lennie also searches for her missing mom and discovers secrets Bailey was hiding). Even so, readers will be moved by Lennie's ability to admit to even some of her most unpleasant feelings and motivations, and her growing willingness to live “full blast.” Ages 14–up.