Children/juvenile: Interest age, years 12

At the start of this startling, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting novel, a young woman named Pamela lies dead on the living room floor, with her younger sister, Em, wondering if she's responsible. Is she? How did Em get to this point in her life? How did she survive? The answer is revealed in the direct, open, and remarkably hopeful voice of a teenage girl whose basically sunny disposition outlives some of the darkest circumstances imaginable. The ups and downs of the sisters' life on their own is chronicled with humour, pathos, and unflinching honesty; from the moment Pamela's anger first turns to physical violence, to Em's triumphant reconnections to people and things in the world outside their apartment. This is the extraordinary book that launched the Arthur A. Levine Books imprint ten years ago. It's a book you won't be able to put down. And one you'll never forget.