This book is based on a theme that I haven’t seen covered before in YA novels (although I’m sure it has been—it’s not like I can read them all, or even most of them these days). The protagonist is Sydney, a teen who has always been overshadowed by her charismatic brother Peyton. But when Peyton gets out of control and is sent to jail for his tragic crime, he continue to monopolize her parents’ attention, even though he is no longer there. Sydney transfers from her tony and expensive private school, where everyone knows all the details of the family’s issues, to the public high school. There, she falls into a circle of artistic outliers, and gets adopted by the Chathams, a warm and kind-of-wacky family that runs a run-down local pizza parlor that is the YA version of Cheers (the bar where everybody knows your name).
So the set-up is a little extreme, but I think a lot of siblings can relate to feeling like they are invisible compared to a sibling that is either outstanding, and getting all the attention for that, or demanding, and getting all the attention because of their neediness. It is just in Sydney’s case, it is both!
This is a nice book with interesting characters. It really revolves around Sydney finding her voice, which is a real struggle for many teens…and even many adults. So it is a good read. Desson is another North Carolina author, this time from near-by Chapel Hill. I always enjoy reading a good book by a local author!