Can 15 minutes really mean the difference between life and death? This is a question that keeps rolling around 16-year-old Giselle's concussed head after a terrible car accident puts her entire family in the hospital and claims the life of her twin sister accident that might have been avoided if Giselle hadn't been running late. Moving through Giselle's consciousness, lucid dreams, confusion, and pain, Danticat (Claire of the Sea Light, 2013), in her first novel for teens, writes a soulful account of one girl's grief. The narrative is one of reflection rather than action, as readers come to a rounded understanding of both girls through Giselle's episodic remembrances. There's a lot quietly packed into this novel selle's Haitian heritage, her parents' imminent separation, the complications and thrills of first love, music, and art t most interesting is Danticat's rendering of identical twins as unique individuals. This is a poignant story for thoughtful teens that explores what it means to be a twin and how to say good-bye without losing oneself.

Gr 7 Up-Identical twins Isabelle and Giselle were born with their fingers entwined and the doctors had to separate them, digit by digit. Now at 16, their parents are separated and considering divorce and the twins are developing their own interests and friends. As the unhappy family is running late to Isabelle's school orchestra concert, the two are once again holding hands when the red minivan hits their SUV. For several days after the accident, the doctors and Aunt Leslie think Giselle is the twin who died and call her Isabelle, and Giselle, trapped in a coma, cannot tell them who she is. Unable to wake up or move, Giselle travels through her memory of friends, family, and mostly of Isabelle as she decides whether to let go of her twin and return to life or to stay in her vegetative state. Waking up, though, only leads to physical pain and grief as she struggles to recover from the accident and her sister's death. Haitian-born Danticat, better known for her adult books, shines in this young adult novel that at times seems to move into the supernatural and mystical before yanking readers back into realism. A bit mystery, a bit romance, even a touch of humor, the strong writing leads readers on a journey through Giselle's past, a journey she must take before she can face the present—and the future without Isabelle. VERDICT Well-crafted characters and strong writing make this a book to recommend, especially for fans of Gayle Forman's If I Stay (Dutton, 2009).— Janet Hilbun, University of North Texas