Then I Met My Sister by Christine Hurley Deriso

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Then I Met My Sister by Christine Hurley Deriso

Flux, April 8, 2011

Summary from Goodreads:

Shannon has been the backdrop of my life since the moment I was born.
Summer Stetson lives inside a shrine to her dead sister. Eclipsed by Shannon's greatness, Summer feels like she's a constant disappointment to her controlling, Type A momzilla and her all-too-quiet dad. Her best friend Gibson believes Summer's C average has more to do with rebelliousness than smarts, but she knows she can never measure up—academically or otherwise.
On her birthday, Summer receives a secret gift from her aunt: Shannon's diary. Suddenly, the one-dimensional vision of her sister becomes all too solid. Is this love-struck, mom-bashing badass the same Shannon everyone raves about? Determined to understand her troubled sister, Summer dives headfirst down a dark rabbit hole and unearths painful family secrets. Each revelation brings Summer closer to the mysterious and liberating truth about her family—and herself.

I have heard NOTHING about this book. I stumbled across it while I was processing new books at the library and thought it sounded interesting so I checked it out and read it. And seriously, tell me that the summary doesn't catch your eye, as well! Basically, if Shannon hadn't died, Summer wouldn't be here today. Summer was a happy accident that happened as her parents were grieving over the loss of 17-year-old Shannon.
 
And Shannon was perfect. There are awards and trophies and photographs everywhere to remind Summer of that fact. If Summer can never hope to live up to Shannon's level of perfection, why should she even bother trying? So she does the most sensible thing...she doesn't even bother. She is the direct opposite of the person her parents led her to believe that Shannon was.
 
Except that once Aunt Nic gives Summer the journal, she realizes that Shannon really wasn't that perfect. Summer's narration is mixed in with Shannon's journal entries, which allows us to see just how much the sisters have in common and, sadly, how they might have gotten along if the circumstances had been different. My heart was breaking for Summer, who was so desperate to be her own person. When she began taking an active interest in her sister, her parents clam up even more.
 
This was such a unique novel and written so well! I don't know why no one is talking about it, but it's definitely worth a read!
 
Borrowed book from library.
Enjoy your reading!
Christi