Saint Anything

By Sarah DessenSydney has lived her whole life in the shadow of her older brother Peyton. Everyone in her life, especially her parents, dote on him despite his continued troubles with the law. Then one night, her brother gets in real trouble when he drives drunk and hits a boy on a bike. Now Sydney is known as the girl with the brother in jail, and all she wants to do is crawl under a rock. To allow her family to put her costly private school tuition toward lawyer bills – and to get away from the stares – Sydney decides to change schools for senior year. At her new school, Sydney meets the Chatham family, who have their own set of problems but are entirely more open than Sydney is used to. As Sydney navigates through new and old friendships, a new family dynamic, and confronting her crushing guilt about the accident, she starts to find herself after feeling invisible for a very long time. This book started a bit slow for me, but by the halfway point I was in love with it. Sarah Dessen fans will not be disappointed. I really connected with the characters and loved the meaning behind the title “Saint Anything” (you get to it, eventually). Also, that beautiful carousel on the cover!