The Good Sister : A Novel

The Kinsey sisters live in an unconventional world. Their parents are former flower-children who still don't believe in rules. Their small, Northern California town is filled with free spirits and damaged souls seeking refuge from the real world. Without the anchor of authority, the three girls are adrift and have only each other to rely on.

Rachel is wild. Asha is lost. Sarah, the good sister, is the glue that holds them together. But the forces of a mysterious fate have taken Sarah's life in a sudden and puzzling accident, sending her already fractured family into a tailspin of grief and confusion. Asha has questions. Rachel has secrets. And Sarah, waking up in the afterlife, must piece together how she got there.

Jamie Kain brings us The Good Sister, a stunning debut young adult novel about love in all its joyful, painful, exhilarating manifestations, and about the ties that bind us together, in life and beyond.

“The novel's three sisters...ache on the page with honesty. In her debut novel, Kain writes bravely and beautifully, respecting the reader's capacity to respond with openness and a raw understanding of the turns life may take and to hold judgment as nuanced characters discover the many facets of their own complex beings.” —Booklist (starred review)

“A haunting, dark and at times harshly beautiful exploration of the scars left by hurt and loss.” —Kirkus

“While having Sarah speak from beyond the grave gives this novel a touch of the supernatural, Kain keeps her story and everyone in it grounded in reality. The author offers profound reflections on life, death, and the bonds of family, and as the suspense surrounding Sarah's death intensifies, readers will find it hard to put this novel down.” —Publishers Weekly

“Fans of emotional powerhouses such as Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones (Little, Brown, 2002) and Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why (Penguin, 2007) will enjoy the novel's insight into the complexities of sisterhood, adolescence, and the "good" and "bad" behavior therein.” —School Library Journal

“Haunting and compelling.” —Allison van Diepen, author of Snitch and Takedown

“Rachel and Asha's lives and loves make for fascinating reading as the mystery of what really happened to their sister Sarah slowly unravels and threatens to destroy them. I couldn't put this book down.” —Jennifer Echols, author of Dirty Little Secret and Playing Dirty

“The Good Sister is a deeply felt novel. Its narrators, the three sisters (all of whom are not only good but also beautiful), are so wonderful. It breaks my heart every time I turn a page.” —Paul Griffin, author of Burning Blue