Module 9 - Dead Girls Don't Write Letters

Module 9 - Dead Girls Don't Write Letters

Summary

Sunny Reynolds' older sister Jasmine died in a fire in February, so when she receives a letter from Jazz in May, the whole family's world is turned upside down.  Her depressed mother and her drunken father come together again to receive the sister.  Their hopes are dashed when the girl who arrives is not the true Jazz Reynolds, but an eerily close impostor.  Sunny begins to work to uncover the girl's true origin.  She eventually uncovers that the girl impersonating Jazz was her roommate, and the girl has taken a dead person's place several times before.  The family confronts Not-Jazz.  She admits what she has done and runs away.  Sunny's parents refuse to admit that Non-Jazz was there.  One day, Sunny receives a letter in the mail that appears to be from herself, indicating the girl who took Jazz's place now intends to impersonate Sunny.

My Impressions

This book is a fun, short read.  The mystery is interesting, and Sunny is a strong and well-drawn character.  Readers who have one of those "perfect" siblings will sympathize with Sunny's feelings.  One of the interesting things about this book is that it is initially difficult to tell if Sunny's suspicions about Not-Jazz are because she doesn't care for her sister, or if they are well-founded.  The story uses this psychological element at the end as well, when the parents and grandmother don't believe the girl was there.  This is interesting as readers can't be sure at times if the issue is all in Sunny's head. 

Reviews

Reviewers praised this book but also note that it has shortcomings.  Kirkus reviewers state that the author "shows the same acute psychological observation and masterful sense of pacing of her sensational debut, but without the same depth and subtlety. While Sunny is drawn with a sensitive hand, the rest of the characters are too over-the-top to be convincing, and the plot has the feel of a drawn out short story" (Anonymous, 2003).  Kliatt reviewer Claire Rosser noted that "there are plot twists here, which the author manages to pull off if the reader isn't too questioning. A quick read for those who want easy entertainment--fast moving and intriguing" (Rosser, 2004).

Use in a library

One thing reviewers note is that this book does not compare to the author's debut novel.  An interesting use for this book would be to have readers read several of this author's works and look at the differences between several of her works.  They can look at what she does well, what she does poorly, what she does inconsistently.  So far, this author's work is enjoyable so it could be a good way to get kids reading, but also to help them examine what they are reading critically in the context of the author's body of work.

References

Anonymous. (2003). Dead Girls Don't Write Letters. (Children's Books). Kirkus Reviews: 71(4): p305. Retrieved from Literature Resource Center.

Giles, G. (2004). Dead girls don't write letters.  New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

Rosser, C. (2004). Giles, Gail. Dead girls don't write letters. Kliatt: 38.6, p. 18. Literature Resource Center.