Years before Holland and Geneva Shepard were born, their parents had another family. Three children, John, Elizabeth, and Kevin, who were killed in a car accident as teenagers. That was almost 20 years ago, and now Holland, who is 13, and her younger sister, Geneva, live in a household where the memory of the brothers and sister they never met--the family they were never a part of--haunts their existence. Their mother and father are loving in an uptight, distant, undemonstrative way that starkly contrasts with the old photographs Holland and Geneva sometimes sneak a look at in which their parents and older siblings hug, embrace and laugh with ease. "I knew it," Geneva tells Holland. "The parents used up all the love on them." Geneva is prone to severe panic attacks and obsessive-compulsive behavior, and Holland is the one who often caretakes for her sister, with a maturity and understanding that defy her age although she also grows tired of the way Geneva manipulates their lives. But from the very moment Annie first enters their house, things begin to change. "It seems to me your mom and dad got a great second chance, right?...Lucky for them," Annie tells the sisters early on. "It is strange to think of the parents as blessed and lucky," Holland thinks as she considers people's reactions when they hear about the death of the other Shepards. "People almost never describe them that way." But who is this pale, ethereal young woman named Annie and where did she come from? As readers are drawn into this intricate novel that is grounded by Holland's perceptive, down-to-earth voice, they will be compelled by that very question as well as by the slowly changing landscape of Holland and Geneva's emotional lives. Is Annie real? Is she a ghost? Or is she imaginary, conjured in Holland and Geneva's minds to help their family heal? It's up to the individual reader to decide in this beautifully written, fascinating story. (Ages 11-14)