Pan's whisper by Sue Lawson

Black Dog Books, 2011. ISBN 978 1 742032 06 1.
(Age: 13+) Pan's Whisper tells the story of Pandora, a teenage girl who can no longer live with her mother and is put into the care of a foster family. It is set in Australia and the author tells the story of Pandora's trouble settling into the new family, being accepted at school, learning to trust and the feelings of not knowing where she belongs. The story switches back and forth between present day and the memories of the past as Pandora writes to her sister, unveiling the memories from the point of view of Pandora and the point of view of her older sister who constantly struggled to protect Pandora from their mentally ill mother. It is not until Pandora finally feels she belongs that the memories of her past catch up and she realises what her sister did for her and she finally has the strength to accept her life and her past.
The author uses description and emotion to draw you in to Pandora's battle and I would recommend it for girls aged 13+, who are independent readers, to adults as it does switch back and forth between memories and while the themes are explained with care, it does tackle mental illness and abandonment and child neglect issues.
Kylie Kempster