The Deadly Sister by Eliot Schrefer

Imagine the moment when you realize that someone you love dearly may have committed a crime too terrible to comprehend. This is what happens to Abby Goodwin when her sister, Maya, is questioned for murder.  Abby has always been the "good" daughter, and Maya has always been the druggie, the drop-out, the lazy daughter unhealthily interested in her sexy tutor... the sexy tutor who will eventually find himself face-down in a creek.  Abby goes through everything trying her damnedest to prove that her sister is no murderer, just led off the beaten path, but every clue keeps leading her right back to Maya.  Is someone planting the evidence, trying to lead Abby down the wrong path, or can the terrible suspicion be true?

I don't know what is with me and suspense novels lately.  I think it's just that when suspense novels are done well, they are done really well, and ho-ly crap "The Deadly Sister" done well.  This is another example of a book I literally couldn't tear my eyes from.  I had never read anything by Eliot Schrefer before, but Scholastic's YA branch This Is Teen has this "book suggester" that suggested that I would find this book to be awesome.  And it was right. The reader is constantly in Abby's head feeling and coping with everything she needs to feel and cope with.  She is a sympathetic character you trust and don't mind being around, and you can't help but feel so sorry for her whenever she tried to prove Maya innocent and runs into yet another piece of evidence that doesn't look too good.  I don't think my heart rate slowed down even for a second (and neither did Abby's). The story twists and turns regularly, so the reader never quite feels safe within the story, but doesn't twist and turn so suddenly that we have to deal with whiplash.  Schrefer expertly uncoils the tale of Jefferson Andrews' murder steadily, leaving the reader constantly on-edge and trying to compute every possible outcome, just as Abby is.  As for the ending, I won't say anything except "wait... what... how... fgeuywhfksdmlkfeg."

If teens fourteen and up are looking for one of the best YA thrill-rides of their reading lives, then they absolutely MUST read "The Deadly Sister." Schrefer is a gem of an author, the kind you just so rarely get to read, but when you do, you couldn't be happier with the result.  His creation of Abby and Maya especially is so brilliant and captivating, which is great because you spend a lot of time with those characters.  I had a moment of "wow, that is ridiculously impressive" after realizing that Schrefer is a man. What can I say? I'm a sucker for men who can write female characters beautifully.

"The Deadly Sister" by Eliot Schrefer has the Abigail T stamp of approval: this is legitimate young adult fiction.


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