In a house full of dark memories, two sisters try to escape the past
Holland Shepard is a responsible teenager who spends her life trying to keep her feelings inside. Her sister Geneva is the opposite—a bundle of nerves who dreads sentimentality, but suffers so acutely from nervous disorders that a ride in an elevator is enough to send her into a fit. The girls are like summer and fall—close, yet utterly distinct—but in their parents’ house, they are growing up almost as ghosts. Because this home belongs to John, Kevin, and Elizabeth—Holland and Geneva’s siblings, who died before the girls were born.
Burdened by grief, their parents cannot bond with the daughters who replaced their original family, and so it is left to Holland to look out for herself and her sister. When a mysterious artist comes to paint a mural in their house, the girls get a glimpse into their family’s past and a chance to find themselves a place in its future.
This ebook features a personal history by Adele Griffin including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s own collection.
**
From Publishers Weekly
Eighth grader Holland Shepard eloquently narrates the pains of surviving adolescenceAwhen three of her siblings did not. She and her obsessive-compulsive younger sister Geneva live in New York City's Greenwich Village, in a house "inlaid and overworked in memories too precious to sell." The memories belong not to Holland and Geneva, who never knew the other ShepardsAJohn, Kevin and ElizabethAbut to their parents, who remain silent on the subject of the siblings who died 18 years ago. Though a secret stash of photos of the other Shepherds reveals a warm, demonstrative family, now their mother, whose "eyes are glassy with a liquid that never spills," refers to any display of affection as "Ick." When mysterious Annie arrives to paint a mural for their mother's birthday, her creative expression and earthy demeanor provide the antidote to the dispassion of the girls' parents; she leads the sisters to dispel the ghosts and to make memories of their own. Griffin (Sons of Liberty) spins a taut story of two girls whose tomblike home life begins to squelch them, and who must confront the unknown in order to liberate themselves. In a powerful blending of elements from the supernatural, romance and everyday teenage experience, Griffin's story offers a resounding affirmation that fears are to be faced, not denied, and life is to be lived, not mourned. Ages 10-14.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 8 Up-A mesmerizing novel about healing and emotional survival. Geneva Shepard and her older sister, eighth-grader Holland, have lived their lives in the shadow of a memory-that of their three siblings who were tragically killed in a car accident 20 years earlier. Geneva, in particular, has been affected and suffers from nearly debilitating psychological difficulties. Then one day, an artist arrives to paint a mural in their home. Part therapist, part friend, part angel, Annie transforms their lives and allows the girls to begin a much-needed healing process after years of perceived secondary importance to their parents. This is a stunning, quietly moving novel that shows the far-reaching aftermath of tragedy in one family's lives. Reminiscent of Judith Guest's Ordinary People (Viking, 1982) but with an air of the supernatural, this touching story is told with insight and tenderness. The probable identity of Annie, saved until the last chapters, is a particularly satisfying twist. The story is told with skill and packs emotion, imagination, and sensitivity into its pages. Carrie A. Guarria, Lindenhurst Memorial Library, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Description:
In a house full of dark memories, two sisters try to escape the past
Holland Shepard is a responsible teenager who spends her life trying to keep her feelings inside. Her sister Geneva is the opposite—a bundle of nerves who dreads sentimentality, but suffers so acutely from nervous disorders that a ride in an elevator is enough to send her into a fit. The girls are like summer and fall—close, yet utterly distinct—but in their parents’ house, they are growing up almost as ghosts. Because this home belongs to John, Kevin, and Elizabeth—Holland and Geneva’s siblings, who died before the girls were born.
Burdened by grief, their parents cannot bond with the daughters who replaced their original family, and so it is left to Holland to look out for herself and her sister. When a mysterious artist comes to paint a mural in their house, the girls get a glimpse into their family’s past and a chance to find themselves a place in its future.
This ebook features a personal history by Adele Griffin including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s own collection.
**
From Publishers Weekly
Eighth grader Holland Shepard eloquently narrates the pains of surviving adolescenceAwhen three of her siblings did not. She and her obsessive-compulsive younger sister Geneva live in New York City's Greenwich Village, in a house "inlaid and overworked in memories too precious to sell." The memories belong not to Holland and Geneva, who never knew the other ShepardsAJohn, Kevin and ElizabethAbut to their parents, who remain silent on the subject of the siblings who died 18 years ago. Though a secret stash of photos of the other Shepherds reveals a warm, demonstrative family, now their mother, whose "eyes are glassy with a liquid that never spills," refers to any display of affection as "Ick." When mysterious Annie arrives to paint a mural for their mother's birthday, her creative expression and earthy demeanor provide the antidote to the dispassion of the girls' parents; she leads the sisters to dispel the ghosts and to make memories of their own. Griffin (Sons of Liberty) spins a taut story of two girls whose tomblike home life begins to squelch them, and who must confront the unknown in order to liberate themselves. In a powerful blending of elements from the supernatural, romance and everyday teenage experience, Griffin's story offers a resounding affirmation that fears are to be faced, not denied, and life is to be lived, not mourned. Ages 10-14.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 8 Up-A mesmerizing novel about healing and emotional survival. Geneva Shepard and her older sister, eighth-grader Holland, have lived their lives in the shadow of a memory-that of their three siblings who were tragically killed in a car accident 20 years earlier. Geneva, in particular, has been affected and suffers from nearly debilitating psychological difficulties. Then one day, an artist arrives to paint a mural in their home. Part therapist, part friend, part angel, Annie transforms their lives and allows the girls to begin a much-needed healing process after years of perceived secondary importance to their parents. This is a stunning, quietly moving novel that shows the far-reaching aftermath of tragedy in one family's lives. Reminiscent of Judith Guest's Ordinary People (Viking, 1982) but with an air of the supernatural, this touching story is told with insight and tenderness. The probable identity of Annie, saved until the last chapters, is a particularly satisfying twist. The story is told with skill and packs emotion, imagination, and sensitivity into its pages.
Carrie A. Guarria, Lindenhurst Memorial Library, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.