"En främling ger Rowan ett fotografi som han påstår att hon tappat. Hon tar emot det, men bilden är inte hennes. Dessutom är det är ett negativ, så det syns inte vem det föreställer. Vore det inte för vännen Bee hade Rowan aldrig tagit reda på det heller. Hon har fullt upp med att ta hand om spillrorna av sin familj. Då de framkallar negativet får Rowan en chock. Och genom bilden förändras hennes liv och en fantastisk hemlighet avslöjas."

A warm, original, intelligent book about loss, friendship, family, memory; a book with three dimensional characters that you'll admire and care deeply about and be sorry to say goodbye to.

This is a lovely story about 15-year-old, Rowan, who is trying to hold her family together after the death of her older brother, Jack, in a drowning accident. Her father has left the family home and her mother is suffering from a severe nervous breakdown so it left to Rowan to take care of the house, her mother and her little sister, Stroma. However, Rowan's life becomes even more complicated when a teenage boy hands her a negative claiming that she dropped it while in the checkout queue of the grocery store.

This book deals with personal identity, bereavement, friendship and the difficulties of growing up. Rowan is a very engaging, likeable character who is struggling to survive. She is stubborn, introspective, brutally honest with herself and lonely. Although quite sad in parts, the book doesn't wallow in gloom and the thread of mystery throughout the story adds to a satisfying plot with an unexpected twist at the end. A worthwhile read. ( )

15-year old Rowan's world is still shaken from the death of her outgoing, lovable older brother Jack. But she's not reeling. She doesn't have time for that. Jack's death has left a hole in her family that has plunged her mother into a deep depression, broken up her parents' marriage, and left her to singlehandedly run the household and care for her 6-year old sister, Stroma.

Then something weird happens at the grocery store, and her life starts to change. A guy she's never seen before tells her that she dropped something and hands her a photo negative. It's definitely not hers. She doesn't even have a camera. So she throws it away.

But the curiosity of a schoolmate, Bee, who witnessed the exchange compels her to fish it out of the trash and develop the photo. It's really not hers. But it's of her dead brother. Where did it come from? And who was that guy?

This is one of the most mature and realistic "journey of healing" type books I've read. It wasn't gimmicky at ALL, and this book had the potential to be extremely gimmicky. It wasn't wrapped up too nice and neat at the end. The 15-year old narrator matures visibly throughout the course of the book. I especially liked the way the romance was handled. Rowan didn't bore everyone by spending page after page pining after her crush when she clearly has other things on her mind, and yet it managed to feel natural, not cheap or tacked on. It was a minor part of the book, but added a nice element.

I would definitely recommend this book to teens looking for a realistic read. ( )

Having read the Ant Colony recently, which I liked immensely, I was a little disappointed in this title. Valentine writes well and explores some of her characteristic themes--the mysterious connections we form with others as a result of bad circumstances (the silver lining to the cloud) and the need to make our own family when the biological one we are born into doesn't work. The characters are likable but after a particular mystery is solved--where a mysterious photo negative of the main character Rowan's dead brother actually came from--the book seemed to lose its luster. I might've liked it more had I read it before the Ant Colony. There is some mild profanity in the text recommending it for a 14+ crowd, for those of you out there who select books for school and public libraries. ( )