Far from the Tree

In Benway's novel, the surprise winner of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature this fall, three adopted teenagers, strangers to each other, reckon with the discovery that they have siblings—each other—and with the question of whether to search for their bio-mom. But the stakes are raised, because one of the new sisters has just given up her own baby for adoption, which she's terrified to reveal to the others. What turns it from a schematic dilemma to a moving piece of fiction are the three siblings themselves, Grace, Maya, and Joaquin, each distinct but capable of surprising change after change, and of believable growth in challenging circumstances. (12 and up)