Ordinary Girls by Blair Thornburgh

It’s a tumultuous year for sisters Ginny and Plum, as Ginny agonizes over college applications, their family struggles financially, and Plum forms a secret friendship (or maybe more?) with one of the most unlikely boys she can imagine.

I had heard that this was inspired by Sense and Sensibility, and while there is a practical sister and a high-strung one, a dead father and problems with money, don’t go into this expecting a retelling. That’s not to say it isn’t charming! I thought the relationship between the sisters was particularly well done, and the story revels in classic literature references (Austen, the Brontës, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, Rilke, Rossetti, Dickinson...) and a handful of film and classical music grace notes. (They also watch a lot of HGTV, which cracked me up a little every time.) If this sort of family drama is your thing, you’ll love this book.

(Reviewed from a copy borrowed through my library system.)