48 Hour Book Challenge - Book 3 - The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June by Robin Benway

There's something powerful about sisterhood.  I know this mostly because I only have a brother, and have always felt something missing when talking to friends who have sisters.  There's something special about sisterhood: the antagonism, the rivalry, and the closeness that can only come from spending so much time in the same house, year after year, with someone related to you and also, so much like you.

April, May, and June are sisters whose parents got a little lazy when it came to picking names for their kids.  They were all born a year apart; April is the oldest (a junior), then May (a sophomore), then June (a freshman).  After their parents' surprising divorce, the girls were uprooted from the only home they knew and plunked down in Southern California, forced to start high school all over again in a place where they have no friends.  April, the brainiac of the family, has her mind set on college, while May's seriously missing her dad, and the only thing June cares about is finagling her way into the popular crowd.  But all of these plans are thrown for a serious loop when, on the way into school, their car almost hits another student.... and they realize they all have extraordinary powers.  April can see into the future, May can become invisible, and June can read minds.

If you're expecting for the girls to bond together with their secret powers to save the world, you are reading the wrong book!  These sisters use their secret powers, for good and for bad, dealing with the crises of high school that everyone -- yes, even those of us without super powers -- can relate to.  Their powers pull them apart and divide them (can you imagine being able to read your sibling's mind?!), but they also bring them together, in a powerful finale that will remind readers of the fragile bonds that tie siblings together, for better or for worse, as family.

This is a perfect beach read for the end of summer (sorry, it doesn't come out until August) or for the start of the school year.  Robin Benway is a witty writer with a deep understanding of all that goes down in high school: the good, the bad, the ugly.  Each chapter is written by a different sister, and I have to say, my favorite sections were the ones narrated by Meg.  She's the perfect moody antidote to June (who's basing her life off a little too much reality TV) and had some hilarious moments getting all snarky with her peer tutor, Henry.

  Readers of Audrey, Wait! have been waiting a little while for this one, and it won't disappoint.


*This review is based off the Advance Reader's Copy.  The book will be published in August 2010.*