ALL RIVERS FLOW TO THE SEA

Rose and her older sister, Ivy, were in a car accident one dusky evening in the Adirondack Mountains near their home. Since then, Ivy has been in an unresponsive coma while Rose struggles to understand how life can keep moving without her sister. Haunted by memories of the accident, Rose tries to conceal her pain with promiscuity, only to realize that this makes her feel worse about herself. Fortunately, William T., her neighbor, and Tom Miller, a childhood friend, watch out for Rose’s emotional well-being, especially since her mother lives in denial, impotently focused on making thousands of paper cranes instead of visiting Ivy. By the end, Rose is able to let Ivy go after realizing that she, unlike her sister who was like moving water, draws strength from her own inner, still waters—or reservoir—of love and memories. McGhee does a fine job of capturing the grief associated with losing a sibling at a young age, allowing readers to feel acutely Rose’s pain through the intimate first-person narrative. Touching and triumphant. (Fiction. YA)