2014 book 98

Ava Dellaira's Love Letters to the Dead
Oh, boy, is this a weepy. This is definitely gonna be an FYA book club book in like 6 months. It's about a high school freshman whose beloved older sister died a few months earlier, who's assigned to write a letter to a dead person--and then writes a whole notebook of letters to famous dead people, about her older sister and her high school experiences and the boy she likes. All while talking around having been molested, and blaming herself for her sister's death. The romance didn't entirely work for me (too idealized, as is typical of YA books), and definitely some parts don't read like a high schooler wrote them. But her friendships (particularly with two girls who are secretly in love with each other) and her interest in music and poetry ring pretty true. But, I mean, be prepared to cry a lot if you read this. A-/B+.