A thoughtful novel in verse about moving through grief and finding a first crush.
Nina always followed her older sister Lily—until Lily died in a bike accident just before turning 13. In the three years since, Nina has felt alone in her grief, as her parents have withdrawn into their own. Now, Nina is about to turn 13 herself, and wants to complete the unfinished list that Lily left of 13 things she wants to do before turning 13.
Nina is also spending the summer in Paris with her Aunt Renee, as the whole family used to do when Lily was alive. She’s enrolled in art classes there and Aunt Renee has asked a colleague’s daughter, Sylvie, also in the class, to be her guide around the city.
Nina’s growing crush on Sylvie, however, leads us to learn that Lily had been the only one Nina was out to. She’s now hesitant to come out to her parents, not because she fears they would react badly, but because without Lily, “I’m afraid to move forward without her, to become someone she’ll never know.”
As Nina works on Lily’s list, though, she is sometimes transported (whether magically or in her imagination is deliberately unclear) to times when Lily is alive, which helps her process her grief and have more confidence in who she is, with or without Lily. Her creations as an artist and her travels around Paris with Sylvie also offer fodder for reflection, self-growth, and a way forward.
As author Kate Fussner explores Nina’s feelings about herself, Lily, and Sylvie, she gives us a gentle but powerful portrait of a girl during a transformational summer. Highly recommended.
Nina and her family are White; Sylvie and the art teacher are Black.
