Reviews: (by author)

Deans, Sis. Every Day and All the Time. New York: Henry Holt, 2003. ISBN 0-8050-7337-X $16.95.

Dedicated to her brother Jon, whose name she uses for her protagonist Emily's own lost brother, Sis Deans has written a delicately crafted and very emotional book for teens who have suffered the death of someone they love, or those who wish to understand the trauma of loss.

While both Mother and Father berate themselves for Jon's accidental death and the injuries that Emily suffers, Emily holds desperately to her brother's memory, conversing with his spiritual presence in the finished basement whose door she keeps closed so that he cannot slip away. As the title conveys, Emily misses Jon every day and all the time, and it is clear that her parents feel the same way, though none of them will talk about it. Father drinks instead of writing, and mother devotes herself to work to try to block their pain. They want to sell the house to avoid the constant reminders of Jon's life, but Emily continually undermines each possible sale for fear of losing her brother's presence.

During the course of the year, with many visits to the therapist, Emily's emotions, and those of her family finally surface, and she comes to terms with the fact that her anticipated career as a ballerina has been destroyed by the accident that took Jon's life. The dance performance she dedicates to her brother offers the opportunity to express her never-to-be forgotten love for him in an profound act of creativity that brings peace to her heart and to her family, and gives her the strength to move on and set her brother's spirit free.

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