Love Letters To The Dead by Ava Dellaira

 It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May did. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to people like Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Amelia Earhart, Heath Ledger, and more; though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating new friendships, falling in love for the first time, learning to live with her splintering family. And, finally, about the abuse she suffered while May was supposed to be looking out for her. Only then, once Laurel has written down the truth about what happened to herself, can she truly begin to accept what happened to May. And only when Laurel has begun to see her sister as the person she was; lovely and amazing and deeply flawed; can she begin to discover her own path.

In this book we meet Laurel who has just started high school at a new school to get away from a tragedy in her past. She is given an assignment to write a letter to a dead person. She chooses Kurt Cobain although she eventually writes to other dead people as well.
I really enjoyed the layout of this book. Not quite a diary but close. As we get further into the book, we learn more about Laurel and her sister who is dead, May. It is both heartbreaking and refreshing to see her come to terms with her past. And of course, it has my favorite YA element, first love. I was brought to tears and close to tears many times. This is a deeply emotional book so go into it with some Kleenex and a glass of wine. Well, only wine if you are over 21. I will definitely be reading more by this author.