BRIANA'S GIFT
Lurlene McDaniel
Laurel Leaf Books/Random House
Fiction
Hardcover: 0385731604
Paperback: 9780440238690
176 pages

Thirteen-year-old Susanna (Sissy to her family) hasn't had much luck with the month of December. When she was six, her dad died in a horrible accident at work. At eight, her mother was diagnosed with a debilitating arthritis. And most recently, her spirited older sister, Briana, decides to run off to Los Angeles with her boyfriend.

So this year's December also will be a depressing one. Briana sends postcards at first, but all too soon there's no word at all. Sissy depends on her best friends, Melody and Stu, to help her through the lonely days of missing her sister, and practicing her flute passes the time as well. Somehow life goes on.

Then, just before school starts the following year, a pregnant Briana shows up at the front door asking to come home. Briana's boyfriend, who she's better off without, is long gone; she absolutely refuses to track him down for child support. Briana is determined to make a good life for her baby and soon gets a cashier job at Wal-Mart, saving up for everything her baby will need.

Sissy is so ecstatic that her sister is home, and she's really looking forward to becoming an aunt. Her relationship with Briana has grown some as well. Instead of tagging around after Briana, admiring Briana from her little sister status, they are more like friends, pouring over baby books and following the baby's progress together. Sissy even volunteers to redecorate the new nursery, painting the walls lilac with green trim, and she loves to play her flute for the unborn baby.

But without warning, Briana falls deathly ill, and Sissy and her mom are faced with some impossible decisions. To make life more complicated and confusing, Sissy's friendships with Melody and Stu are changing; Melody seems distant, and Sissy starts seeing Stu differently, in a "guy-type" way. She wishes that their friendship could return to normal, but deep down she knows it will never be the same. This year's December approaches with even more sadness and despair than ever --- and with one of the greatest gifts ever offered.

Lurlene McDaniel has written quite a few novels for young people, including The Angels in Pink trilogy and LETTING GO OF LISA. As with her previous stories, BRIANA'S GIFT centers on serious life-changing events that really hit the heart hard. McDaniel's characters are as life-like as her plots, and her storylines keep the pages turning. Another winner from this talented author!

   --- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman, author of FINDING MY LIGHT and THE BLACK POND.

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