Customer Reviews

The September Sisters

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
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A tender love story, a page-turning mystery, and a beautiful coming of age tale, September Sisters is a wonderful book for people of all ages. I read it as an adult and could not put it down, and I could only imagine how my 13-year-old self would have loved every twist and turn of the plot. You'll fall so deeply in love with Abby that you'll have trouble separating the book from reality!

Abigail and Becky are exactly two years and a day apart, and are often referred as the September Sisters by their mother. However, despite their close proximity of age, they constantly squabble with one another and compete for their parents' attention.

But after the sudden disappearance of Becky, Abby's whole life changes. Her mom grows more and more distant and her dad becomes overbearing and obsessed with the investigation. Abby is officially no longer an ignorant child, as she desperately tries to keep her family together.

Abby has no one to confide in until Tommy moves in next door. She soon finds herself expressing all of her emotions, pain, guilt, and resentment towards Becky and her disappearance to him. Along the way, Abigail also falls in love with him, even when everything in her world is less than perfect.

THE SEPTEMBER SISTERS, Jillian Cantor's debut novel, was truly unforgettable, with the perfect mixture of realism, great character development, and plot. Ms. Cantor did a clever job at crafting the opening scene, because I was hooked from the very first page.

The main character, Abby, was really well-written. All of her emotions were portrayed effectively and realistically, making it easy to sympathize with her. But, most importantly, she was a strong heroine, even given her tragic situation. One of the things that I thought was especially memorable were the contrasting emotions Abby endured throughout the book. At one point she was frustrated and even jealous of how much attention her sister received, even after she disappeared.

Her relationship with Tommy was a perfect depiction of first love and its exploring nature. It was interesting to see how their relationship developed, because when they initially met they were hesitant to become friends since they were forced to talk during lunch.

This one is definitely recommended and worth adding to your wish list.

Reviewed by: May A.

Jillian Cantor's debut novel, THE SEPTEMBER SISTERS, is a beautifully told tale of loss, living, coping, and first love. This story is about Abby and how her life changes when her younger sister Becky vanishes. I was hooked from the very first scene, and felt strongly connected to Abby through each and every moment depicted in the book: from the second she realizes that Becky is *really* gone, to dealing with the emotional absence of her mother, to her developing friendship with Tommy, to the very last page. The September Sisters is a hauntingly beautiful not-to-miss read. I can't wait for the next Jillian Cantor book!

Abigail Reed and her younger sister Becky have never gotten along. Their birthdays are very close together - just 24 hours apart - and their mother swears that one day they'll be best friends and love sharing a special day. Abby doesn't think this is possible - she can't stand Becky. But when Becky goes missing, taken from her bedroom in the middle of the night, the Reeds' world is turned upside down, Abby can't help but feel a sinking sense of guilt. While she struggles with this loss, the police begin to suspect her parents, and her mother becomes more and more depressed. It is only when Tommy, a new neighbor, befriends Abby that she can begin to rebuild her life, and reestablish her own identity. This is not just another missing-persons mystery, but a touching, beautiful story about one girl's struggle to find love in the rubble left by a whirlwind of unimaginable events. The September Sisters is both tragic and sweet, captured perfectly with Cantor's striking voice.

Abigail and Becky are your average sisters - fighting all the time about the little things in life. One morning when it's discovered that Becky's missing; Abby doesn't realize just how much her life has changed - without her sister, her mom falls apart, the neighbors start whispering about their family, and Abby's best friend drops her. She has no friends at school and no one to confide in. Abby desperately wishes for comfort, but her father is trying to track down clues to his daughter's disappearance while her mother shuts down and hides in her room. Abby doesn't know how to help her family get over this trauma. She tries asking questions and pretending she's grown-up enough to hear the truths, but really, she just needs someone to pay attention to her. When her new baby-sitter's grandson moves in, they start to connect. He's getting over his own family drama. With him, Abby can save stories about Becky without judgment. She also confides in Tommy about her family now vs her family before. Can she make sense of life without her sister?

Caution: Read this one with tissues.

As a sister, this book was realistically painful. My sister and I fought constantly for several years before we came BFFs again. I can understand the torment of Abby wondering where her sister is and if she's coming home. Not knowing what's happening is the scariest part of the journey. Time passes, but it doesn't feel real with the other part of you missing. This book is a a very powerful and emotional read. Fans of Lurlene McDaniel and teens looking for a tear-jerker will love this book.

I picked up this book mainly because the author was coming to our library to host a little seminar on how to become a writer, and I obviously wanted to be able to connect with her. I unfortunately was not thoroughly surprised by this book. At first I was able to connect to the book as I too have a sister with same name and growing up we did more than our fair share of sisterly bickering and fighting. While I loved the character development of the main character, Abigail, and I felt for her and her family, there was something about this book that just didn't get me hooked on it, and I unfortunately still can not put my finger on it. This is not to say that it did not have its good qualities.

As I said, the character development was well done. Being told through Abigail, you are able to get inside of her head and really understand why she feels and thinks the way she does. You cannot help but feel for her as her mother clearly has checked out once Becky's disappeared. I was frustrated at Abigail's father and how overbearing he was towards her, but clearly understandably so. Jillian Cantor's close attention to detail in describing Abigail's "first love" was real in the sense that I can remember feeling that way at the same age as Abigail.

The one thing I know I did not like about this book was the fact that not much time was spent on the ending (I won't go into any detail as I don't want to spoil it for anyone who wants to read it). Overall, the book was decent and even though it is not one of my favorites, I do not regret reading it.

This is an extraordinary book of loss, love, and life - how does one define oneself when everything you know, everything that makes rational sense, everything that should be true is destroyed in a blink of an eye? How does one go on living? Where can you find strength? What does it mean to be a true friend? Jillian Cantor did an exceptional job of weaving these major life questions into THE SEPTEMBER SISTERS! I didn't put it down and I certainly won't forget it any time soon.

I have not read a lot of YA fiction in my adult life, and I'm starting to realize that I've really been missing out. The latest YA book that I have really enjoyed is THE SEPTEMBER SISTERS by Jillian Cantor. I think that one of the things that I love the most about having a blog is that I'm discovering new genres, new books and new authors.

I found THE SEPTEMBER SISTERS to be a terrific book! While I definitely can say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, this story also touched me deeply. Since this book is about the a young girl who goes missing, I knew it was going to be sad and, at times, very troubling to read. (I mean, isn't losing a child every parents' worst nightmare?) What I especially appreciated about this book was that if wasn't about the abduction so much as it was about how the disappearance affected the remaining family members, especially Abby the older sister.

One thing that I found so heartwarming about this story was the character of Abby. The book was told through her young eyes, and she was a perfect narrator. She was the more quieter and perhaps even plainer daughter (or at least that's how she perceived herself); and her life was forever changed when her sister was kidnapped. I absolutely adored Abby because she was such a special child. I found her strength and resilience to be admirable and I won't be forgetting her any time in the near future.

The book covered about two years of Abby's life (from the ages of 12 to 14) and in so many ways, this book was really a coming-of-age story for Abby. The reader not only saw her deal with the disappearance of her sister, but also saw her grow up in so many ways. She had to handle her father's over protectiveness, her mother's depression, being ostracized at school, and even the ups and downs in the search for her sister. Needless to say, these things go way beyond what any teenager should have to deal with -- aren't the teenage years hard enough anyway? Yet the reader also got to see Abby experience the "normal" things that happen to teenage girls such as discovering boys and even falling in love.

THE SEPTEMBER SISTERS is Jillian Cantor's first novel, and I have a feeling that it's just the beginning to a wonderful career as an author. Her journey to becoming a published author is a great story which shows how important it is to never give up -- you can read more about it here. Ms. Cantor graduated from Penn State before heading to the University of Arizona for their MFA program. Of course, she holds a special place in my heart since we are both Penn State grads --fellow Nittany Lions have to stay together. She is currently working on her second YA novel which is scheduled for release in Winter 2010. I know I can't wait to read it!

As I read THE SEPTEMBER SISTERS, I couldn't help but think that it would make a wonderful book for a mother-daughter book club. There are so many things to discuss such as parent/child relationships, sibling relationships, first love, grieving, adultery, depression, etc. I am hoping to someday share this book with my daughter and maybe even our book club. I definitely think my daughter is too young for this novel right now because there are some adult topics covered in this story; however, I do think most teenage girls would absolutely adore this book. THE SEPTEMBER SISTERS is absolutely perfect for book clubs, and I'd really love to see a reading guide for it. (It seems that YA books aren't including reading guides in the say way that adult books are.)

Anyone who has a sister will relate to this beautifully written story of love and loss. This book captured me so completely that I couldn't put it down! I will definitely look out for Cantor's next book.

Beautifully written prose and heartbreaking characters fill this wonderful debut by Jillian Cantor. She does an amazing job of hooking you from the first opening scene and the mystery of Abby's lost sister will keep you turning the pages.

Jillian's impressive and emotional debut should not be missed--by adults and teens alike!