In Robin Benway’s newest book, The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & 
June, 3 teen sisters’ lives are reeling: their parents have recently divorced and their dad has moved from LA to Houston; along with their mom, the girls have had to move to a new house in another part of L.A. and start a new school; and they’re on a roller coaster ride of emotion, including pain, guilt, confusion, and normal teen angst. But things get really complicated when on a seemingly normal day at the start of the school year, Junior April, Sophomore May, and Freshman June suddenly discover they have “powers”: eldest child and control freak April gets glimpses of the future; surly loner and middle child May develops the ability to literally become invisible; and extroverted popularity-hungry June can read anyone’s mind she chooses. Adding these “powers” into the mix of their already tumultuous lives, and the sisters quickly descend into bouts of nasty bickering, invasions of privacy, and off-the-charts levels of sibling rivalry. Even when April starts having a recurring vision of a terrible accident that will destroy her family, the girls seem unable to set their anger towards each other aside and work together to prevent the unthinkable.
Benway sets herself a daunting task to create three distinct first person narrators and weave the plot and action smoothly between their alternating chapters. She has a great ear for teen voices and does a superb job of creating 3 believable, authentic sounding teen girls, who are each unique from each other. After reading the first of each girls’ chapters, the reader can open the book to any page and easily tell which sister is narrating that part of the story. The “powers” the girls have are also a great match for both their personalities and their role in the family dynamic, and eventually they find ways to both understand and control their own powers and appreciate each other’s gifts. There are hints throughout of a possible sequel or series in the making, so time will tell if the reader will get more of these three girls who have learned that the truest, strongest power in the world is sisterhood.
- Posted by Cori