This was an interesting take on trying to deal with loss. I admit, I was drawn to the stunning cover, but the story was intriguing as well.

Laurel has just lost her older sister, May, and relocated to another school. The unexpected passing of her sibling left her family in tatters, and she's just trying to cope. When her English teacher gives the students a project to write a letter to a dead person, Laurel discovers an outlet for her thoughts.

Amelia Earhart, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Elizabeth Bishop, Heath Ledger, Alan Young, and a few others appear as recipients for Laurel's story. Through her letters, she is not only able to connect with the deceased and put her soul down on paper, but she's also able to come to terms with the night her sister left, and feelings she wasn't ready to handle.

While this is sold as a YA read, and readers get all the happenings of high school drama, we also understand how everyone deals differently with death. We meet friends of Laurel's and witness her day-to-day as she moves on, but we get the bigger story and her innermost thoughts, which, for me, was the focus of the story.

Anyone who has not only had to cope with loss, but unexpected loss, should go pick up this book.