Abigail Reed and her younger sister, Becky, are always at each other's throats. Their mother calls them the September Sisters, because their birthdays are only a day apart, and pretends that they're best friends. But really, they delight in making each othermiserable. Then Becky disappears in the middle of the night, and a torn gold chain with a sapphire heart charm is the only clue to the mystery of her kidnapping. Abby struggles to cope with her own feelings of guilt and loss as she tries to keep her family together. When her world is at its bleakest, Abby meets a new neighbor, Tommy, who is dealing with his own loss, and the two of them discover that love can bloom, even when it's surrounded by thorns.

This exquisitely written first novel illustrates life as it truly is—filled with fear and danger, hope and love, comfort and uncertainty.

"In her memorable debut novel, Cantor follows a family so devastated by the disappearance of a daughter that it never fully recovers. One summer morning, Abby, 12, and her parents wake to find Abby's 10-year-old sister Becky missing, with no clues about who took her or why. In the days that follow, all three undergo the scrutiny of their suspicious community and baffled police, and as the months pass, Abby's mother spirals into a detached depression as her father becomes consumed with searching for a daughter he refuses to believe is dead. Abby, ostracized at school, finds a quiet, supportive friendship with Tommy, a neighboring teenager, which develops into a tentative first love. The recurring intrusion of Abby's memories of her sister and her wide range of emotions (ranging from resentment and uselessness to heartache) make the story startlingly real. ('It began to dawn on me that dead was better than missing, vanished, disappeared. At least dead was final.') Cantor offers no happy ending, but a poignant final scene shows that, despite distance and circumstance, Abby remains connected to her sister. Ages 12 — up." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Jillian Cantor has a BA in English from Penn State University. She received her MFA from the University of Arizona and was a recipient of the national Jacob K. Javits fellowship. She currently lives in Arizona with her husband and two sons. The September Sisters is her first novel.